History Channel

1999 Listings, August to November

8/01/1999
Tales of the Gun "Guns of the Bizarre"
Duck Feet, Salt Shakers, Squeezers, Knuckledusters, Fish Hooks, and Harmonicas. Though the listed items sound innocuous, they exist for one reason--self-defense. These are the nicknames of some of the unique guns in this examination of the inventive gunsmiths who created these strange one-of-a-kind firearms [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Secret Weapons of the Third Reich
Rockets, jets, and missiles became a top priority for spies on both sides during the Second World War. In this series narrated by Charlton Heston, he explains how espionage, as well as science and engineering, played a critical role in the development of secret weapons--and the prevention of their use!
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Banking with Hitler.
Swiss banks stand
accused of Nazi collaboration, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry
Morgenthau found they were not alone. He uncovered a sinister story of
British and American bankers, who in peace and war, banked on Hitler.
We'll reconstruct the Morgenthau investigation, and interview members of
his team and of banking families they pursued.
11:00/8:00 True Action Adventures. They Landed by Moonlight/They Fought from Within.
An examination of agents behind-the-lines in WWII including
Odette, Yeo-Thomas (the White Rabbit), and Violet Szabo. Then, a look at
how the various Resistance groups operated.
Monday -- 08/02/1999
8:00/5:00 The Strange Case of Lizzie Borden. "Lizzie Borden took an ax,
and gave her mother 40 whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave
her father 41." Most of us know the grisly rhyme, but not the whole
story. Who was Lizzie Borden? Did she really murder her father and
stepmother on that muggy morning in August 1892? Or does she stand
wrongly accused? (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Military Blunders. USS. Indianapolis: Tragedy at Sea/Collision
at Sea: The Queen Mary and HMS Curacao. First: When the U.S. cruiser The
Indianapolis, on a secret mission involving delivery of an atomic bomb,
is torpedoed, nobody realizes that the crew is left struggling in
shark-infested waters. Then: The Queen Mary, on her way to England
transporting GIs, uses zig-zag movements to avoid submarines, but cuts
an escorting cruiser in two. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 New York Bridges. Much of New York City's history can be
viewed via its bridges--all 18 that connect Manhattan Island to its
neighbors. Join us for a look at these architectural masterpieces from
the age of iron and steel; and, see how they have changed destinies,
linking some to opportunity, others to ruin. (cc)
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Merrill's Marauders. America's
answer to fighting behind Japanese lines was a crack army unit of highly
trained jungle fighters led by Brigadier General Frank Merrill. See them
take on not only the Japanese in Burma, but also sweltering heat,
insects, disease, and faltering supply lines.
Tuesday -- 08/03/1999
8:00/5:00 Buried Secrets: Digging For DNA. A revealing probe into how
advances in DNA technology and forensic science are solving some of
history's great mysteries. Stories unearthed include: the identity of
the Vietnam War Unknown Soldier; how Napoleon died; the corpse of Jesse
James; Thomas Jefferson's white and black descendants; the Dr. Sam
Sheppard murder case. [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Military Blunders. The Pilot Who Bombed London/The Last Flight
of the Lady Be Good. In 1940, the Luftwaffe was winning the Battle of
Britain, attacking R.A.F. fighter bases. But after an off-course pilot
bombed London, the British bombed Berlin. Thus began the Blitz. The, a
WWII U.S. B-24 Liberator crew, lost over the Mediterranean, crashed in
the Libyan desert. It took 20 years to learn their fate. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 U.S. Mints: Money Machines. How does America make
money--literally? We visit the United States Mint and the Bureau of
Printing and Engraving to see the secretive government facilities where
our legal tender is generated. With a storied past as tantalizing as the
wealth they create, these mints can spit out fortunes in an hour and
keep our economy flowing. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. War Crimes: The Death Camps. An expos of
one of the most shameful sagas of the Civil War--the inhuman treatment
of P.O.W.s on both sides. Includes a look at facilities in the camps and
the crimes committed against the prisoners. [TV G] ; how Napoleon died;
the corpse of Jesse James; Thomas Jefferson's white and black
descendants; the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder case.
Wednesday -- 08/04/1999
8:00/5:00 The First Detective. Life of 19th-century France's
super-sleuth Eugene Francois Vidocq, the world's first private eye. An
ex-convict and master of disguise, he helped start the Paris police's
first detective squad, introducing undercover work and ballistics
testing. Meet the model for fictional heroes of Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur
Conan Doyle, and Victor Hugo. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Military Blunders. The Bomb Plot to Kill Hitler/Mutiny in the
Trenches. First: A look at one of the biggest blunders of WWII, when a
plot by German opposition failed to kill Hitler in 1944 at the Wolf's
Lair. Then: In 1917, on the Western Front during WWI, the French are
repulsed by the Germans due to flawed tactics and poor preparation,
leading to widescale mutinies in the French army. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History of Tall Buildings. A look up at the symbol of the
American Century--the skyscraper, the construction of which is a triumph
of engineering and capitalism. Climb to the top of the Empire State
Building, Chrysler Building, Sears Tower, and World Trade Center to see
how ego, money, and technology joined to build the tallest of man-made
structures. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Weapons at War. Hitler's War Machine: The Luftwaffe. Herman
Goering's well-trained fliers filled the skies of Europe with dread and
rained terror upon its great capitals. So how did the poorly equipped
British Royal Air Force finally defeat them? Veterans and historians
reveal the secrets. [TV G]
Thursday -- 08/05/1999
8:00/5:00 Scotland Yard's Greatest Investigations. Join us on an
historical tour through Scotland Yard's Black Museum as we study some of
England's most diabolical cases and criminals. In the Black Museum, that
houses the Yard's evidence and is closed to the public, we examine
photos and artifacts from heinous crimes such as the Great Train Robbery
and the Acid Bath Murders. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Military Blunders. The Sinking of the Graf Spree/The Sinking
of Force Z off Singapore. First, Germany sends its best pocket
battleship on a secret mission in the Atlantic in 1939. When confronted
by three British cruisers, not only does the captain sail into a blind
alley, but fails to use his superior guns. Then, Churchill dispatches
two of Britain's mightiest warships to Singapore--without air cover! [TVG]
10:00/7:00 Garbage. Unwanted and discarded, garbage stands as a smelly
testament of mankind's wastefulness. Join us as we rummage through the
history of rubbish and discover the ever-changing composition of refuse.
We'll also examine the current high and low-tech means of taking out the
trash, including recycling, and learn how to use less stuff! (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Trains Unlimited. When Giants Roamed: The Golden Age of
Steam. Weighing over 600 tons, carrying over 28 tons of coal and over
25,000 gallons of water, giant steam locomotives pulled mile-long trains
and did the work of three regular steam engines. Before the last days of
America's golden age of steam, the mournful cry of the whistle would
sing from the largest beasts ever to roam the earth! [TV G]Friday -- 08/06/1999
8:00/5:00 The Plot to Overthrow FDR. A cabal of financiers and
industrialists, alarmed by FDR's economic policies in the Depression,
plotted to create a fascist state. Their choice of retired Marine
General Smedley Butler to lead an army of disgruntled WWI vets proved
their undoing. When Smedley learned details of the conspiracy, he
reported the lot to Congress. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 All the President's Men (1976) (In-studio guests: Reporter Carl Bernstein, portrayed
in the movie by Dustin Hoffman; Ben Bradlee, portrayed by Jason Robards) [TV PG-L]
Saturday -- 08/07/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #104. In a magazine-style
treasure hunt, we search out historical objects and the often-murky
truth surrounding them. In this installment, we track: Jackie Kennedy's
bloodstained dress; Paul Revere's lanterns; African man-eating lions;
the shared liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng; the oldest pair of
Levi's; and the earliest war films. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God: Disasters in America. Tornadoes: Super
Outbreaks. Coils of terror twisting out of the heavens to lash earth,
tornadoes hit the U.S. more than any other country. Always unrelenting,
never have they struck with such frequency or ferocity as on April 3 and
4, 1974. In just under 18 hours, 148 tornadoes ravaged parts of the
Midwest and South, killing 315 people across 13 states. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century. Heaven and Earth. Hosted by Peter Jennings, this
6-part series looks at key moments, memorable people, and important
events in 20th century world history. First, meet the century's first
mega-celebrity, Charles Lindbergh, whose 1927 solo flight over the
Atlantic made the world a smaller place. Then, fly to the moon with the
U.S. Apollo space program. [TV G]
Sunday -- 08/08/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Automatic Pistols. A fixture in the battle
zone, menace on the street, and companion to police, the automatic is
easy to use, reliable, and deadly. A 20th century advancement, we trace
the self-reloading pistol's history from the first awkward model to the
sleek guns of Berreta and Glock to a "Smart Gun" of the future that only
fires from its owner's hand. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Vietnam: Hidden in Plain Sight. Charlton
Heston narrates this look at the Viet Cong's secret methods to foil
America's attempt to seal off South Vietnam. From the Ho Chi Minh Trail
to the tunnels of Cu Chi, it's an amazing story of hidden supply
highways, underground cities, covert camps, and double agents. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 As It Happened: The Nixon Resignation. An overview of the
events that led up to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on
August 9, 1974, and a look at post-resignation Nixon from downcast days
at San Clemente to political rehabilitation. Participants and observers
describe the last days when his staff found out he had lied about
Watergate, and his emotional farewell. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. Hitler's Declaration of War on the
U.S./Death at Stalingrad. A study of two of Hitler's greatest blunders,
which spelled doom for the Third Reich. Even after the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt fought resistance to joining the
fight against Germany and Italy--until Hitler declared war on the U.S.
Then, his insistence on taking Stalingrad leads to the loss of an entire
army! [TV G]Monday -- 08/09/1999
8:00/5:00 Bounty Hunters: Relentless Pursuers. They aren't police, yet
they can break down your door and yank you off to jail...if you're a
bail jumper. Meet the elusive agents who track nature's cleverest
animal--man! We trace centuries of legal history supporting bounty
hunters, from medieval tradition to English common law, from slave
catchers to lawmen of the Wild West. (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Hitler's Henchmen. Himmler: The Executioner. The rise of the
unprepossessing, bespectacled Himmler to Hitler's most powerful aide was
unpredictable. What turned this dutiful son of a devout Catholic into
the German myth-driven head of the dreaded S.S.? And, what choices led
him to make the holocaust his hallmark? [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Crash Testing. Delves into the little-known, hugely
important, multi-billion-dollar industry of product testing--where
wrinkles get ironed out, and goods are stripped of marketing and hype to
see if they work. Meet product testers who serve as truth squads in an
eccentric world of machines devised to "sneeze" at tissue paper and
"sleep" on mattresses. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #104. In a magazine-style
treasure hunt, we search out historical objects and the often-murky
truth surrounding them. In this installment, we track: Jackie Kennedy's
bloodstained dress; Paul Revere's lanterns; African man-eating lions;
the shared liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng; the oldest pair of
Levi's; and the earliest war films. [TV G]
Tuesday -- 08/10/1999
8:00/5:00 The Best Kept Secret: D-Day. The unmitigated success of the
Allies' "Operation Overlord"--the Normandy Invasion that cracked the
Nazis' Atlantic defense--depended on an elaborate plan to fool the
Germans as to when and where the assault would hit. We'll investigate
deception plan "Bodyguard" which included a million-man army of
inflatable men and equipment! [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Hitler's Henchmen. Wilhelm Keitel. Widely regarded as a weak
officer with little tactical military experience, the head of German
armed forces served chiefly as Hitler's lackey. Watch Wilhelm Keitel's
rise from WWI staff officer to Hitler's most trusted field marshal, to
death by hanging after conviction at Nuremberg for the shooting of
hostages. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Earth Movers: The Power to Move Mountains. Feel the earth
move under your feet, and dig into the fascinating history of
earthmoving equipment--from invention of the simple spade to today's
powerful steam shovels. Meet the legendary giants like John Deere,
Jerome Case, and the founders of Caterpillar, who helped forge America's
monolithic construction industry. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. Robert E. Lee. The legend, myth, and
reality behind the Confederate leader renowned as much for his exalted
character and leadership qualities as his tactical brilliance on the
battlefield. [TV G]
Wednesday -- 08/11/1999
8:00/5:00 Hell's Angels. Are they romantic figures of rebellion, or
traveling, rowdy misfits? Jump on you "hog" and ride along as we reveal
the history of this motorcycle club with a punch! From inception by a
former pilot from the "Hell's Angels" squadron, to the true incident on
which "The Wild One" is based, to today, it's a ride you won't want to
miss. [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Hitler's Henchmen. Ribbentrop: The Errand Boy. Portrait of the
prototype career climber whose obedience to authority was a way of life.
As a versatile emissary who once opposed Hitler, von Ribbentrop quickly
won the Fuhrer's favor, becoming the able foreign minister who prepped
the way for Hitler's aggressions. In 1946, the errand boy was condemned
to death at Nuremberg. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Harley-Davidson. A while back, the Harley-Davidson Motor
Company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy--today, there are Harley
restaurants, a clothing line, even a Harley Barbie! Examine this
American success story that began in 1903 when four men--the Davidsons
and William Harley--launched a motorcycle marketing wonder from a
Milwaukee shed. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Amphibious Assault Ships. Climb aboard
the fleet of ships that comprise "The Gator Navy". Among the most
advanced ships afloat, they range from huge vessels like the U.S.S.
Tarawa to smaller landing craft effective on land and sea. From WWII to
counter-terrorist operations today, their success is the seamless
orchestration of land, ground, and air forces. Thursday -- 08/12/1999
8:00/5:00 The Cavemen. Cave dwellers known as Neanderthals roamed earth
some 70,000 years ago, possibly coexisting with our predecessors. Fossil
records date the last Neanderthals to 30,000 years ago when they seemed
to disappear. We'll learn how they differed from other primates and what
factors may have led to their demise. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Hitler's Henchmen. Bormann: The Shadow Man. Though
inconspicuous, Martin Bormann, Hitler's personal secretary, Nazi Party
chief, and sycophant, was a restless schemer with the power to turn an
inconclusive instruction from his master into a "Fuhrer Command".
Bormann's secretary, mistress, son, and others who knew him, provide
insight into this power-hungry shadow man.
10:00/7:00 Tanks. See how technology has transformed the tank from a
slow-moving vehicle operating at only four miles an hour during WWI, to
today's 60-ton monsters that move at 45 miles per hour. George C. Scott
hosts. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. The Secrets of Guadalcanal. Hundreds
of sailors, eight ships, and two U.S. admirals were lost in an action
where valor overcame mistakes made by both sides in the first
large-scale Allied victory over the Japanese and the final defeat of
Admiral Yamamoto. Discover how the Japanese, with superior land, sea,
and air forces strategically and tactically failed.
Friday -- 08/13/1999
9:00/6:00 Ku Klux Klan: A Secret History. Kneeling before a flaming
cross, Klansmen and women take part in their sacred bonding, showing how
secrecy and ritual aid the hooded order in a campaign for white
supremacy. From its birth in 1866's Reconstruction South to a 1996
rally, this chronicle of hate talks to Julian Bond, Morris Dees Jr., the
Grand Dragon, and Imperial Wizard. [TV PG-L]
11:00/8:00 The Warrior Tradition. Green Berets.
Unconventional...elite...secretive...highly trained. They're the U.S.
Special Operations forces, part of a long tradition of soldiers who
eschewed the open battlefield to fight behind the lines. From Francis
Marion's Revolutionary War "irregulars", WWII's Rangers and Merrill's
Marauders, to Vietnam where the Green Berets came into their own. [TVPG]
Saturday -- 08/14/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #105. Join us on an historical
scavenger hunt as we search down artifacts from around the world. Some
of the objects on our list this week include Clyde Barrow's death shirt,
Oliver Cromwell's head, and the first dinosaur skeleton to be publicly
disclosed. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God: Disasters in America. Hurricanes: Category
Five. They form near Africa, feeding off the ocean's heat until maturing
to full-fledged hurricanes--ferocious tropical cyclones with wind speeds
up to 200 m.p.h. Historians, survivors, and weather watchers recreate
the horror of the 1900 Galveston and 1935 Florida Keys Hurricanes, and
Hurricanes Camille ('69), Gilbert ('88), and Mitch ('98). [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century. Ultimate Power. Peter Jennings looks back at key
events that shaped 20th century history, focusing on the rise to power
of Adolf Hitler and the birth of the first weapon of ultimate mass
destruction, the atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima in 1945.
Could these two forces of evil, which changed the world forever, have
been prevented? [TV G]

September

Tuesday -- 09/07/1999
8:00/5:00 England's Great Wall. Stretching roughly 80 miles across
northern England, Hadrian's Wall split the country in two, serving as a
barrier against Pict marauders. Did the Roman army build the wall to
protect their new province, or as some historians argue, to build-up the
phenomenal ego of Emperor Hadrian, which was nearly as big as the wall
itself? (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 Roman War Machine. Roman versus Roman. By 55 B.C., the Roman
army had conquered nearly all the Mediterranean region. Rome's greatest
general, Julius Caesar, stood on destiny's brink. After conquering Gaul,
he planned to invade a distant, strange island--Britain. But soon, the
Roman army would find itself embroiled in civil war as Roman faced Roman
over the Rubicon. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Golden Gate Bridge. More than 50 years after its
construction, the Golden Gate remains one of the world's great
engineering marvels. It took 25 million man-hours and 80,000 miles of
cable to complete. But the cost in human life proved even greater. (cc)[TV G]

11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. The Monitor vs The C.S.S. Virginia. In
March 1862, the North's Monitor and the South's C.S.S. Virginia clashed
in an inclusive battle. But the ironclads changed naval warfare forever,
their armor plating dooming wooden warships to the scrap heap. [TV G]

Wednesday -- 09/08/1999
8:00/5:00 The Knights of Camelot. King Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot,
Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table--are they figures from
fanciful fable or portraits from a pagan past? Travel back to early
England and Wales to unravel the Arthurian legend and learn why the
yearning for Camelot and chivalry survives. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 Roman War Machine. Roman Siege Warfare. If any ancient people
dared defy Roman demands to surrender town or city, a large arsenal of
technologically advanced siege weaponry may have been among the last
sights they witnessed on earth. For siege warfare was one of Rome's
greatest tools for winning and keeping control of its empire. Joseph
Campanella hosts. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Plumbing: The Arteries of Civilization. Each day, billions
of gallons of water flow through cities into homes and back out again in
a confusing mess of pipes, pumps, and fixtures. The history of plumbing
is a tale crucial to our survival--supplying ourselves with fresh water
and disposing of human waste. From ancient solutions to the future,
we'll plumb plumbing's depths. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Ships of the Line. For 300 years, they
were the world's mightiest vessels. Now extraordinary recreations take
us on board the legendary English warships, including Nelson's H.M.S.
Victory. [TV G]

Thursday -- 09/09/1999
8:00/5:00 England's Lost Castles. During the early Middle Ages in
England, timber castles were the dominant fortifications--yet today,
only mounds of earth remain where the wooden wonders once stood. How did
changing times and technological advances topple these timber citadels
in favor of stone fortresses? (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 Roman War Machine. Barbarians at the Gate. By the 2nd century
A.D., the empire had expanded as far as it could. Consolidation was at
hand. Instead of plundering new territories, the Roman army
reconstructed them. Because the army was the first Roman presence in a
new land, the soldiers and their architects, surveyors, and engineers
built their own defenses...some lasting 2,000 years. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Salt Mines. It's our blood, sweat, and tears. Trace salt
mining's history--from the "white gold" on the table to the oceanic and
underground deposits whence they came. Though today we take salt for
granted, most life depends on it. Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in
it--hence the word salary. And many slaves died procuring it. (cc) [TVG]

11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Behind Enemy Lines. Join us as we
uncover some of the untold stories of World War II when we go behind
enemy lines with the elite special forces that emerged during the war,
such as the British Special Air Service (S.A.S.) and the U.S. Army's
Rangers. [TV G]

Friday -- 09/10/1999
8:00/5:00 The Missing Princes of England. London, 1483. The War of the
Roses rages, threatening the throne. Newly orphaned Edward V and his
younger brother, placed in the care of their uncle, are declared
illegitimate. They then disappear, the bodies never found. Did Richard
III have them murdered? Or was he the victim of a Tudor plot to claim
the throne and discredit him? (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The World's Greatest Conspiracies. Did Sirhan Sirhan have an
accomplice in the killing of Robert Kennedy? Did the FBI play a role in
the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.? This documentary examines these
and other possible conspiracies. [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Jesse James: Fact or Fiction. In Missouri, there is a grave
marked Jesse James, but do the remains of the famed frontier outlaw
really lie there? This program examines the scientific evidence and the
controversy. We'll also meet some of Jesse's descendants who avail
themselves for DNA testing to finally lay the mystery to rest. (cc) [TVG]

Saturday -- 09/11/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #103. Based on Harvey
Rachlan's book "Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones and Einstein's Brain," this
hour tracks down Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones' corpse; traces
the incredible journey of the London Bridge to an Arizona desert; and
examines the curious story of George Washington's teeth. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God: Disasters in America. Shipwrecks of the
Great Lakes. The Great Lakes cover 95,000 square miles, and the remains
of over 6,000 shipwrecks cover their floors. Most are caused by violent
storms with towering waves and destructive winds. We study one of the
most nasty tempests, the "November Witch", responsible for the deaths of
273 people in 1913, and the '58 wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 The Century. The Evolution of Revolution. In the concluding
episode, Peter Jennings examines America's involvement in Iran and how
our cozy relationship with the Shah would come back to haunt the country
when Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in 1979. Then, prominent
leaders and thinkers discuss the future, based on their views of the
past 100 years. [TV G]

Sunday -- 09/12/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Women and Guns. Since the invention of
gunpowder, the "fairer sex" has demonstrated an amazing proficiency with
firearms. Against tradition, women have disguised themselves as men in
order to fight in war. In the Wild West, they learned to shoot to
survive. Throughout history, they have been armed--and sometimes
dangerous! [TV G]

9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. The Ultra Enigma. British codebreaking and
capture of the German military's super cipher machine, the Enigma,
enabled the Allies to pull off one of the greatest campaigns of
deception in military history, and changed the course of World War II.
Charlton Heston narrates. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Top Secret: Spy Planes of the Cold War.
Join host Arthur Kent as he uncovers new information about secret spy
plane missions flown over communist territories during the Cold War.
Over 10,000 missions were flown; many were tracked and attacked by the
U.S.S.R., Red China, and North Korea. The most famous was C.I.A. agent
pilot Gary Powers, shot down in 1960 over the Soviet Union. [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. Saddam's Invasion of Kuwait/Desert One.
First, we'll look at how Saddam Hussein's misunderstanding of the
international political climate led to his invasion of Kuwait. Then, we
examine the aborted attempt by U.S. Special Forces to rescue the
hostages held in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the Iranian
Revolution in 1980. [TV G]

Monday -- 09/13/1999
8:00/5:00 The Truth about Science Fiction. From the dawn of the
scientific age, visionaries, like H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, have
pictured the future in fiction. Authors Larry Niven and Harlan Ellison,
historian Forrest Ackerman, and NASA scientists detail sci-fi history
and show how the worlds of fiction and reality play off each other,
slowly merging to create an amazing future! (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Great Ships. High Tech, High Seas: Armament. Join us for
some of the most dramatic naval battles of the past as we explore the
evolution of maritime weaponry--from brutal hand-to-hand clashes in
combat at sea's early days to thundering broadsides of the 18th century
to 20th century battleships, warplanes, and missiles. See how
innovations in weaponry changed the evolution of ships. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 The Atlantic Wall. Join us for an exploration of the Nazi
construction called the Atlantic Wall--3,000 miles of shore
fortifications along occupied European coastline. We'll highlight the
logistics of construction, types of fortifications, weapons, and
obstacles in the wall used by the Germans. We also detail the Allied
D-Day invasion. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #103. Based on Harvey
Rachlan's book "Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones and Einstein's Brain," this
hour tracks down Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones' corpse; traces
the incredible journey of the London Bridge to an Arizona desert; and
examines the curious story of George Washington's teeth. (cc) [TV G]

Tuesday -- 09/14/1999
8:00/5:00 Mysteries of Easter Island. Isolated 2,200 miles west of
Chile in the Pacific, Easter Island is the easternmost outpost of the
Polynesian island world. Famous for its ancient, giant stone statues,
its people struggle to retain their past, while grappling with the
future. See how overpopulation and environmental degradation nearly
destroyed it. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Great Ships. High Tech, High Seas: Design and
Construction. From the simplest canoes of antiquity to today's most
advanced nuclear submarines, we trace the innovations of ship design and
construction through the centuries. Profiling some of history's most
famous ships of war and commerce, we meet the most brilliant designers
of all time and chart ship design from art to science. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Stealth Technology. A look at the F-117 Stealth Fighter that
led the pack for the Allies in the Gulf War and virtually decimated
Baghdad. Find out how the technology allows it to approach its target
without being detected by radar. Also, a look at the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
(cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. Sherman and the March to the Sea. From the
glow of burning Atlanta to the capture of Savannah, this documentary
chronicles the scorched-earth policy of one of the Union's most
effective--and feared--generals. [TV G]

Wednesday -- 09/15/1999
8:00/5:00 Catacombs of Rome. Tunneled into the bowels of ancient Rome
is a dank labyrinth of beautifully decorated burial chambers and vaults
where religious outcasts--pagans, Jews, and Christians--secretly
preserved forbidden rituals for fear of persecution. Delve beneath
Rome's heights to uncover the secrets of her catacombs and eternal
residents. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Great Ships. High Tech, High Seas: Propulsion. In this
exploration of man's eternal quest to move ships faster and more
efficiently, we'll see how advances in propulsion have inspired
innovations in ship design--from crude oars and paddles, through sails
and steam engines, to the gas turbines and nuclear reactors that power
today's superships and submarines. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Battlefield Engineering. Meet some of the most important,
yet least-recognized, warriors--the battlefield engineers who lay the
groundwork for the battles to come. We'll cover combat engineering from
ancient Rome to Desert Storm, and take a look at the "Next Big Thing".
(cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Battleships. Carrying the largest, most
powerful guns ever to be placed on a warship, the battleships of World
War II served with distinction and created a vivid legacy that resonates
today. [TV G]

Thursday -- 09/16/1999
8:00/5:00 The Gold of El Dorado. El Dorado...somewhere deep within the
South American rainforest lies a city paved in gold. During the 1500s,
brutal Spanish conquistadors, gripped with gold fever, slaughtered
native tribes in their quest for the city of gold...but El Dorado was
never found. Join modern explorers still searching for those streets of
gold. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Great Ships. High Tech, High Seas: Navigation. Ahoy,
landlubbers! Join us for the fascinating story of how man has charted
his way across the boundless sea through the ages--from the
dead-reckoning of Viking navigators like Leif Erikson, to the Age of
Discovery's lodestone compasses and astrolabes, to the Global
Positioning System's sophisticated satellites. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 NORAD: The War Game Fortress. Takes you into the top-secret
headquarters of America's nuclear missile warning center, hidden deep in
the mountains of Colorado. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. The Secrets of the Battle of the
Bulge. Facing defeat in 1944, Hitler played a final gamble in a
foolhardy offensive on the Western Front. What he didn't realize was
that his battle plan was known to the Allies who were decoding Nazi
radio messages. [TV G]

Friday -- 09/17/1999
8:00/5:00 Prophecies. From the ancient Greek's ominous Oracle at Delphi
to the Renaissance's revered Nostradamus, civilizations have sought
their future through the mouths of prophets. Decide if the uncanny and
often accurate predictions from the past are really foretelling our
future, or if it is all hocus pocus. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 High Rollers: A History of Gambling. You can bet on an
exciting two hours as we expose the history of gambling in America.
Since the first race horses arrived in colonial Virginia in 1607, to
1998, when 48 states allowed legalized gambling, moralists and
risk-lovers have waged a continuous war. Hear both sides as we explore
our national need to throw the dice. [TV PG]

11:00/8:00 History Undercover. Las Vegas and the Mormons. Las
Vegas--20th century Babylon in the Nevada desert, where you're never
more than a 2-minute walk from a casino. But our story is less
well-known--Las Vegas is a Mormon town. Host Arthur Kent explores the
paradox of how a religious, abstemious people came to terms with life in
Sin City, and even helped finance the notorious gaming resorts. [TV G]

Saturday -- 09/18/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #104. In a magazine-style
treasure hunt, we search out historical objects and the often-murky
truth surrounding them. In this installment, we track: Jackie Kennedy's
bloodstained dress; Paul Revere's lanterns; African man-eating lions;
the shared liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng; the oldest pair of
Levi's; and the earliest war films. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God: Disasters in America. Hurricanes: Deadly
Wind, Deadly Rain. They are the trouble in paradise that can put islands
under water, spawn tornadoes, level cities, and kill thousands. Named
after the Carib god of storms, Huracan, they wreak havoc each year.
We'll fly through the eye of three deadly storms: Miami's "Big One" in
1926 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and New England's 1938 monster. [TVG]

10:00/7:00 Crimes in Time. From Butch Cassidy's outlaw adventures in a
fading Old West to the Jazz Age theft of the Mona Lisa, certain crimes
perfectly capture the essence of an epoch. Host Tom Skerritt takes a
look at some of history's most fascinating illegal acts. (cc) [TV G]

Sunday -- 09/19/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Japanese Guns of WWII. As Japan bombed its
way into the Pacific during WWII, Imperial soldiers carried pride, a
sense of invincibility, and an arsenal of clumsy and outdated weapons.
Convinced that the tactics and tools that led to victory over colonial
enemies would be just as effective against the Allies, Japan would see
its weaponry lead to defeat. [TV G]

9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. The Invasion That Never Was. In this
investigation of the planned U.S. invasion of Japan during WWII, we'll
hear from noted authors Norman Polmar and Tom Allen, whose book
"Codename: Downfall" details this invasion that never happened. Charlton
Heston narrates. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Inferno: The True Story of Dresden. On
the night of February 13, 1945, Lancasters from the British Royal Air
Force took off for Dresden. They were the first wave of planes in a
3-stage combined British and American attack. Within 24 hours, the
attack caused such immense loss of life that it provoked worldwide
horror. We'll see why the Allies made this provocative decision. [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. A Bridge Too Far/Bombing Fiasco in
Normandy. An examination of two Allied miscalculations during WWII.
First, when British Field Marshall Montgomery raced U.S. General Patton
into Germany, he deployed airborne brigades one bridge too far, bringing
lightly armed paratroopers up against crack S.S.Panzer divisions. Then,
how Allied troops were bombed by their own planes at Normandy [TV G]

Monday -- 09/20/1999
8:00/5:00 Project Underworld: The Military and the Mafia. Illuminates
the shadowy liaison between U.S. Naval Intelligence, the Office of
Strategic Services, and Army, and the New York and Sicilian Mafia during
WWII. Find out if our spymasters inadvertently revitalized the nearly
defunct Sicilian Mafia, and why N.Y. Governor Dewey commuted Lucky
Luciano's prison sentence. [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Korean War: Fire & Ice. Making of a Blood Bath. An
examination of the Korean War, which set all the rules for East/West
conflict during the nuclear age, and in so doing, brought an unknowing
world closer to all-out atomic war than has ever been told. In this
episode, a North Korean surprise attack finds desperate and unready U.N.
forces fighting with their backs to the sea. [TV PG]

10:00/7:00 Spy Technology. Espionage has been used for at least the
last 4,000 years. And where there are spies, you find gadgets! We focus
on the last 100 years of cloak and dagger technology--from early
code-breaking computers to satellite reconnaissance--and take a look at
the James Bond-type gadgets of the Cold War. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #104. In a magazine-style
treasure hunt, we search out historical objects and the often-murky
truth surrounding them. In this installment, we track: Jackie Kennedy's
bloodstained dress; Paul Revere's lanterns; African man-eating lions;
the shared liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng; the oldest pair of
Levi's; and the earliest war films. (cc) [TV G]

Tuesday -- 09/21/1999
8:00/5:00 The War Strikes Home. Despite declared neutrality in WWI,
America covertly shipped munitions to future allies from a depot called
"Black Tom" on the Jersey side of New York Harbor. In 1915, Germany sent
a secret weapon--Captain Franz von Rintelen, a.k.a. "Dark Invader,"
whose successful sabotage of "Black Tom" edged the U.S. closer to war.
(cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Korean War: Fire & Ice. Triumph to Tragedy. Join us for an
in-depth look at the Korean War. Lasting three years, it took more than
2,000,000 military and civilian lives! Prominent historians and battle
veterans reveal the pain, glory, and pathos of the war. This part
revisits MacArthur's amphibious strike at Inchon, which routed North
Korean invaders...until the Chinese intervened. [TV PG]

10:00/7:00 Radar. Examines the history of radar, focusing on its role
in the Allies' victory in WWII. From the Chain Home Network, rudimentary
radar towers that ringed England's eastern coast, to the role of
Boston's MIT in developing a smuggled English secret--the cavity of
magnetron. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. The Secret War: Civil War Spies. The
little-known and often incredible stories of the men and women who
became espionage agents for both North and South. [TV G]

Wednesday -- 09/22/1999
8:00/5:00 Navajo Code Talkers. Meet the Navajo Code Talkers--young men
from government-run reservations called upon to fight for the nation
that had killed many of their grandparents. First-person accounts relate
how a handful of WWII marines devised the only unbreakable code in
modern military history, which remained classified until the Vietnam
War's end. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Korean War: Fire & Ice. Retreat from Hell. The Korean War
was a war of firsts: The first jet war; the first war where it was not
possible to unleash full power, politically or militarily; and the first
battlefield of the Cold War. In this episode, we'll watch a freezing,
shattered U.N. army fight its way out of a Chinese trap in the longest
retreat in U.S. history. [TV PG]

10:00/7:00 Battlefield Medicine. "He who would become a surgeon should
join the army and follow it," Hippocrates counseled nearly 2,500 years
ago. In this history of medicine under fire, we see how a small army of
medics, nurses, surgeons, stretcher-bearers, and ambulance drivers,
races to keep pace with the deadly advances of war. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Special Warfare Craft. Tour the
stealthy, heavily armed commando craft of the Navy Seals--the U.S.
Navy's most elite warriors. We'll follow the Special Boat Units on
dangerous missions throughout the world as they enter undetected onto
hostile shores, mount demolition attacks, and fulfill reconnaissance
needs. [TV G]

Thursday -- 09/23/1999
8:00/5:00 Roman Roads: Paths to Empire. Built on the backs of conquered
countries, the Romans engineered a stone-paved highway system
encompassing 50,000 miles and sprawling across three continents.
Ironically, their breathtaking feat may have paved the road to their
ruin as ancient and newly sprung enemies marched straight to the heart
of the empire. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Korean War: Fire & Ice. Bitter Standoff. Filled with a
rich selection of interviews with battle veterans, as well as commentary
by military writers and historians, our series looks at the Korean War
from the G.I.'s point-of-view. In the final episode, General Ridgway
replaces MacArthur, and turns back the communist tide during two years
of the war's bloodiest fighting. [TV PG]

10:00/7:00 The Submarines. Deadly steel sharks that stalk their prey
below the surface, submarines reign supreme in the undersea world. With
a pedigree dating back to 1787, U-boats came of age in the 20th century
and completely revolutionized water warfare. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. The Sinking of the Scharnhorst. In
the Battle of the North Cape, the Scharnhorst was faster than any rival
British battleship; but she was about to meet her destiny at the hands
of Admiral Fraser in one of the most exciting naval engagements of the
war. [TV G]

Friday -- 09/24/1999
8:00/5:00 The Boy Who Gave Away the Bomb. Though some spies who passed
atomic secrets to the Soviet Union were caught--the Rosenbergs, David
Greenglass, Klaus Fuchs--at least one more existed in the Manhattan
Project. Declassified data points to Ted Hall, a teenaged scientist who
gave away more than the Rosenbergs and earlier than Fuchs. Meet the boy
who gave away the bomb. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Cuban Missile Crisis. Timothy Naftali, co-author of "One
Hell of a Gamble: The Secret History of the Cuban Missile Crisis", walks
us step-by-step through the stages of the crisis that nearly brought the
world to war. Startling revelations include: how an overheard
conversation at Washington's National Press Club helped avert
annihilation. [TV G]

11:00/8:00 History Undercover. Kennedy and Nixon. Based on Christopher
Matthews' book, we tell the story of two of the 20th century's most
compelling leaders, and their surprisingly close friendship that
developed into intense rivalry. Firsthand accounts from Nixon aides and
Kennedy staffers, as well as anecdotes from Matthews, offer insights
that will even surprise political junkies! [TV G]

Saturday -- 09/25/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #107. REVISED: NEW
DESCRIPTION: Join us on an historical scavenger hunt as we search down
artifacts from around the world. Some of the objects on our list
include: Edison's Electric Killing Machine; Togo the Sled Dog;
Shakespeare's Will; Coolidge's Exercise Horse; the First Video Game;
Beethoven's Hearing Aid; and Elvis Presley's Purple Cadillac. (cc)[TV G]

9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God: Disasters in America. Panic! Deadly Inferno.
Audiences pay for the privilege of forgetting their troubles for an
evening out--none expect to pay with their lives. We review three of the
most deadly interior fires in U.S. history, including: the 1903 Chicago
Iroquois Theater fire; the 1942 Boston Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire;
and the '90 Happy Land Social Club fire in the Bronx. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 The Hindenburg. Story of the giant German airship that
mysteriously exploded over New Jersey in 1937. Why did the tragedy
occur, and who was responsible? This special explores the theories. [TVPG]

Sunday -- 09/26/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. German Small Arms of WWII. An evaluation of
the evolution of German "small arms" from the end of WWI, when the
defeated nation was denied the right to rearm by the Treaty of
Versailles, to the end of WWII, after Hitler had again supplied the
country with the means to wage war. See how Lugers, P-38s, and Mausers
wrote an agonizing chapter in the gun's history. [TV G]

9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. The Purple Code. Charlton Heston narrates
the story of America's leading code breaker, William Friedman, and how
his deciphering machines were used against seemingly impenetrable
Japanese codes during WWII. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Deadly Crossing. September 1944: Two U.S.
submarines run a race against time trying to rescue hundreds of nearly
dead men. What the Yanks didn't know, when they returned to the site of
an earlier attack on a Japanese convoy, was that part of its cargo was
Australian and British P.O.W.s. In the sea for four days, only 127 out
of 2,000 survived. Two speak here. [TV PG]

11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. The Pilot Who Bombed London/The Last
Flight of the Lady Be Good. In 1940, the Luftwaffe was winning the
Battle of Britain, attacking R.A.F. fighter bases. But after an
off-course pilot bombed London, the British bombed Berlin. Thus began
the Blitz. The, a WWII U.S. B-24 Liberator crew, lost over the
Mediterranean, crashed in the Libyan desert. It took 20 years to learn
their fate. [TV G]

Monday -- 09/27/1999
8:00/5:00 Vigilantes. Sometimes vilified, but often gloried in the
media, vigilante groups are more than a cultural myth in the long saga
of American history. Taking the law into their own hands, vigilantes
played a major role in shaping our country's social values--from the
Colonial Era to the Wild West and the racist vigilantes of the
Reconstruction South. (cc) [TV PG]

9:00/6:00 The History of the Gun, Pt. 1. This complete history of the
gun conducts an exciting cultural and technical survey of the evolution
of the weapon that changed human conflict forever. Episode 1, in a
4-part series, tries to solve the riddle of who actually invented
gunpowder--a monk under Satan's spell, the Chinese, or an Englishchemist. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Simulators. Though "simulations" date back to cave
paintings, devices for interacting with "synthetic realities" are a
recent invention. See how simulators are used as training tools for
nearly every profession today where hands-on experience is too costly or
dangerous--from the 1929 Link Pilot Trainer to simulated virtual
realities. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Program #107. REVISED: NEW
DESCRIPTION: Join us on an historical scavenger hunt as we search down
artifacts from around the world. Some of the objects on our list
include: Edison's Electric Killing Machine; Togo the Sled Dog;
Shakespeare's Will; Coolidge's Exercise Horse; the First Video Game;
Beethoven's Hearing Aid; and Elvis Presley's Purple Cadillac. (cc)[TV G]

Tuesday -- 09/28/1999
8:00/5:00 The Real Newton Boys. In the 1920s, four poor Texan brothers
became America's most successful bank and train robbers. The Newton Boys
robbed over 80 banks and six trains, while never killing a soul. As a
result, they achieved something few outlaws did--they lived to old age!
With rare interview footage with two of the brothers from the 1970s.(cc) [TV PG]

9:00/6:00 The History of the Gun, Pt. 2. Episode 2, in this
comprehensive history of the gun, traces the shift from early muzzle
loading guns to breechloaders. We'll look at Samuel Colt's legendary
revolvers, Remington's guns, and the pistols of Smith and Wesson. 4-part
series. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Baseball Parks. Step up to the plate and play ball as we
take you on a tour of those amazing edifices of the national
pastime--baseball stadiums! From the sandlots and wooden ballparks of
the 1800 and 1900s to the monolithic multipurpose stadiums of today,
baseball parks have grown into technological wonders that pull in and
cost millions. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. The Battle of 1st Bull Run. The first
battle of the Civil War introduces both sides to the horrors of war. [TVG]

Wednesday -- 09/29/1999
8:00/5:00 Ancient Drugs. Since mankind's beginnings, and in all
civilizations, we have found ways to alter our everyday consciousness in
search of a greater reality. To this end, we have indulged in many
frightening and often toxic substances in many different rituals. We'll
look for answers to why we take mind-altering trips off the well-trod
path. (cc) [TV G]

9:00/6:00 The History of the Gun, Pt. 3. Episode 3, in this cultural
and technical history of the gun, travels to America's western frontier
where cowboys, lawmen, and gunslingers use Colt's pistols and
Winchester's repeating rifles to put the "wild" in the Wild West. 4-part
series. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Plastics. Plastics are everywhere--the home, the workplace,
the car, the human body, outer space, and most conspicuously, the
garbage heap and landfill. Artificially created test-tube material,
plastic can't be returned to nature. Will we drown in a sea of plastic?
Join us as we review this protean substance's past and future. (cc) [TVG]

11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Tankers. Climb aboard the most mammoth
moving objects ever made as we study tankers. See how their development
parallels the history of oil, from discovery in America in 1859 to
evolution as a linchpin of industrialized countries. Meet colorful
owners, such as Niarchos, Onassis, and Ludwig, whose fierce competition
fueled the world. [TV G]

Thursday -- 09/30/1999
8:00/5:00 Devil's Island: Hell on Earth. In French Guiana, we unearth
the hellish history of the penal colony Devil's Island, final stop for
France's incorrigibles and political prisoners from 1852 to 1945. We
interview an 82-year-old former prison secretary; actor Richard
Dreyfuss, who claims descent from inmate Alfred Dreyfus; and island
authority Alexander Miles. [TV PG]

9:00/6:00 The History of the Gun, Pt .4. The conclusion of the history
of the gun covers the 20th century's rapid-fire weapons. We witness the
carnage of WWI as the machine gun replaces the Gatling; the "Tommy Gun"
becomes the gangster's weapon of choice as the 1920s roar; and, Sergeant
Kalashnikov unites a rifle and submachine gun and the assault rifle is
born. [TV G]

10:00/7:00 Las Vegas Hotels. Out of the bleakness of a vast desert
arose a city built on wish fulfillment and indulgence. Unencumbered by
tradition or notions of good taste, for 50 years Las Vegas has taken
tourists to the height of their imaginations while reaching into their
pockets. Visit 11 of the world's largest hotels in the country's biggest
playground. (cc) [TV G]

11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Danger below the Surface. Looks at
the innovations and electronic technology used by the Allies and the
Axis as they vied for supremacy in the submarine war. Witness the Battle
of the Atlantic where Allied airmen and sailors wrangled with German
U-boats. Watch the underwater war in the Pacific where long-range
American subs stopped the "Tokyo Express". [TV G]

Friday -- 10/01/1999
8:00/5:00 Buried Secrets: Digging for DNA. A revealing probe into how
advances in DNA technology and forensic science aid solving some of
history's great mysteries. Stories unearthed include: the identity of
the Vietnam War Unknown Soldier; how Napoleon died; the corpse of Jesse
James; Thomas Jefferson's white and black descendants; the Dr. Sam
Sheppard murder case. (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 The Complete History of the Navy Seals. Long before President
Kennedy commissioned the Navy Seals in 1962, the Navy Combat Demolition
Units were running demolition, such as on D-Day when the NCDU took over
50% casualties, and the Underwater Demolition Teams were clearing
beaches. We'll recount the stories of honor, valor, and commitment of
these backbones of the Navy Seals. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Onto Rugged Shores. Reveals the vital role played by one LST
(Landing Ship, Tank) during WWII. Traces the life of LST 534 through the
eyes of men who served on her at the D-Day landing at Normandy and
Okinawa, where she was severely damaged by a Japanese kamikaze attack.
Called Long Slow Targets by her crews, LSTs were the workhorses of the
Allies. [TV G]
Saturday -- 10/02/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Nixon's Secret Taping System; Roy
Rogers' Trigger; Moon Rocks. Join us for a wild romp through history as
we hunt down famous objects, including: Nixon's secret taping system;
Tom Thumb's wedding cake; Captain Kidd's plea letter; Roy Rogers' horse
Trigger; Moon Rocks; the Liberty Bell; and Hitler's skull. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Fire in the Hole! Mining Disasters. Miners
have always had it rough. They work in one of history's most dangerous
jobs--confined underground, hundreds may die when a single spark ignites
a conflagration from trapped methane gas. We'll examine several major
mining disasters from around the world, including tragedies in West
Viriginia, Illinois, and South Africa. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century: America's Time. Seeds of Change (1900-1914). In
a sweeping series surveying U.S. history in the 20th century, we
illuminate the forces that made America a dominant world player. With
unequaled film and photo archives and scores of original interviews with
eyewitnesses to turning points, we look at how different and simple life
was before electricity, cars, computers, and planes. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Century: America's Time. Shell Shock (1914-1919). In this
episode of a series that illuminates forces that shaped U.S. history in
the 20th century, we examine the results of the Great War. Millions
dead, blinded, maimed, shell-shocked, widowed, orphaned, and robbed of
their ideals of honor and patriotism. What were the consequences of the
wholesale sense of loss left by WWI? [TV G]
Sunday -- 10/03/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Guns of Remington. The Remington Arms
Company is America's oldest gun manufacturer. Since 1816, Remington has
produced over 35 million firearms, including pocket-sized derringers,
shotguns, and long-range rifles. See how Remington firearms helped tame
the Old West, win wars in Europe and Asia, and earn medals in Olympic
shooting competitions. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Hitler's Secrets. From his grand deception
against Stalin to his spy operations in the U.S., Adolf Hitler shared
many secrets with his intelligence masters. We'll examine his many
secrets and the eventual betrayal of his chief spymaster. Charlton
Heston narrates. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Churchill and the President. This story
of the race to create an unbreakable transatlantic system of
communication in WWII is also the story of two men's determination to
defeat the Third Reich. The SIGSALY system, so secret that it remained
classified until 1978, was manned exclusively by U.S. soldiers based in
Selfridge's Department Store in London. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. The Battle of the Bulge/The Bombing of
Monte Cassino. First, we look at Hitler's massive counter-offensive in
the Belgian Ardennes. His objectives were overly ambitious, and the
wintry weather worked against him; but the Allies also blundered by
ignoring their own intelligence on Hitler's intentions. Then, we'll see
if the Allies floundered when they bombed a beautiful Franciscan
monastery. [TV G]
Monday -- 10/04/1999
8:00/5:00 The Mysteries of Devil's Triangles. Join us as we explore and
explain some of the most mysterious spots on earth--Devil's
Triangles--where an unusual number of unexplainable tragedies occur time
and again. We'll visit the Bermuda Triangle, which has swallowed up
ships, planes, and people, and the more deadly Great Lakes Triangle,
where ghost ships routinely sail. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Suicide Missions. Ball Turret Gunners. In war, certain
missions demand the most and constitute much of the legends of bravery.
Journey back to the Second World War when fearless airmen manned the
B-17's belly guns--glass bubbles that at any moment could become their
coffin. The ball turret gunners called their work "flying the ball",
others called it crazy! [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 The Great Bridge: 8 Miles of Steel. San Francisco's Oakland
Bay Bridge stands as an incredible feat of engineering against the
nearly impossible. Once chosen as one of the seven engineering wonders
of the modern world, it features an unique double suspension structure
in its west end. Cross this triumph of construction as we visit its past
and look to its future. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Nixon's Secret Taping System; Roy
Rogers' Trigger; Moon Rocks. Join us for a wild romp through history as
we hunt down famous objects, including: Nixon's secret taping system;
Tom Thumb's wedding cake; Captain Kidd's plea letter; Roy Rogers' horse
Trigger; Moon Rocks; the Liberty Bell; and Hitler's skull. [TV G]
Tuesday -- 10/05/1999
8:00/5:00 Vanished! Explore the most intriguing tales of mysterious
disappearances as historians, psychologists, and forensic investigators
ponder the ultimate fates of the vanished, including: explorer George
Mallory, skyjacker D.B. Cooper, NY Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crater,
diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, and atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair. (cc) [TV
G]
9:00/6:00 Suicide Missions. Snipers. They are the most feared and hated
men on the battlefield, silent assassins who can kill with a single shot
from miles away. Creep along undetected as these brave men surgically
deliver swift death without warning, and learn why snipers are hunted
mercilessly by the enemy in every conflict. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 The NYC Subway. Informative look at that amazing "hole in
the ground", the New York City subway system. Meet the riders, a
towerman who helps run the system, a revenue agent collecting the day's
cash from token booths, amateur musicians that perform at the stations,
and others who make the subway one of the most fascinating public
spaces. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. Honor the Dead: Unsung Heroes of
Gettysburg. Engaged in the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War, nearly
30,000 soldiers were killed in three days of fighting at Gettysburg--but
many of these brave souls were forgotten as they fell. In this stirring
tribute their stories are finally told. With rare photographs and newly
discovered research. [TV G]
Wednesday -- 10/06/1999
8:00/5:00 The Strange Disappearance of the Anasazi. 19th century
explorers in the American southwest encountered the ruins of a vanished
civilization that spread across Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.
Why were these spectacular cities abandoned? Where had the inhabitants
gone? Modern anthropologists hint at a disturbing past in contrast with
earlier peaceful perceptions. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Suicide Missions. Wild Weasels. During the Vietnam War, the
most dangerous flying missions belonged to the Wild Weasels--a group of
fighter pilots assigned the task of destroying enemy radar and missile
sites. Ride in the cockpit with these brave flyers, the first in and
last out, as they decide in a split second to fire their missiles before
the enemy can fire back. [TV PG-L]
10:00/7:00 The Tennessee Valley Authority. During the depths of the
Depression, it was FDR's greatest triumph: A massive public works
project that took a 40,000 square mile, disaster-prone river basin, and
turned it into a model of industrial progress. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Destroyers. Exploration of one of the
deadliest warships to sail the high seas. Highlights the destroyer's key
role in the Allies victory in WWI and in every major naval offensive
since. [TV G]
Thursday -- 10/07/1999
8:00/5:00 Lost Colony of Roanoke. In 1590, the governor of Roanoke
returned from England to its first New World colony to find all 117
settlers missing. The only clues: five chests of books and papers buried
in the sand, and the word "Croatoan", a Native-American village to the
south, carved on a post. Archaeologists search for the fate of the
island's colonists. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Suicide Missions. Combat Medics. Operating under the most
brutal conditions imaginable, each decision they make spells the
difference between life and death. They perform one of the most
dangerous jobs in war, stepping in harm's way when their fellow
countrymen need help. Join us as we review the history of these soldiers
of mercy, the combat medics. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Offshore Oil Drilling. Offshore oil drilling is one of
mankind's greatest technological feats. From the beginning of oil
discovery, the oceans' vast reserves have been the ultimate frontier.
See how these superstructures, both floating and fixed, revolutionized
the search for crude oil, and the environmental price we pay for their
prolific production. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Target: Okinawa. There have been
larger land battles and more protracted air campaigns than Okinawa. But
this was a combined operation, unparalleled in size, scope, and
ferocity. [TV G]
Friday -- 10/08/1999
8:00/5:00 The Mysteries of Amelia Earhart. July 2, 1937--Amelia Earhart
vanishes somewhere over the Pacific, and her final whereabouts remain
one of the world's great mysteries. This 2-hour special chronicles her
rise to fame, details the last flight, and examines views on her
disappearance from a variety of experts and authors, which range from
crash at sea to alien abduction. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 Into the Wild Blue: The World's Best Flight Teams. Famous
aerobatic flight teams and military squadrons gather for an historic
International Airshow, offering a rare chance to meet these amazing
flyers and learn the teams' histories. Join teams from America, Canada,
England, Japan, Brazil, Russia, Italy, Chile, Spain, Switzerland, and
France, and sit in the co-pilot seat, if you dare! [TV G]
Saturday -- 10/09/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Clyde Barrow's Death Shirt; Cromwell's
Head; Merry Prankster Bus. Join us on an historical scavenger hunt as we
search down artifacts from around the world. Some of the objects on our
list this week include Clyde Barrow's death shirt, Oliver Cromwell's
head, and the first dinosaur skeleton to be publicly disclosed. (cc) [TV
G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Collisions in the Mist. In fiction, fog
creeps "on cat feet" over the landscape. In reality, it can be a menace,
changing familiar terrain into a dangerous void. Here are disasters
where navigators fell prey to fog's disorienting effect, including: a
B-25 bomber that hit the Empire State Building, the sinking of the
Andrea Doria, and the wreck of the Sunset Limited. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century: America's Time. Boom to Bust (1920-1929). In
this episode of a series on what made the U.S. a 20th century world
power, we see how "modern" Americans were eager to smash age-old
traditions after WWI. Women in particular claimed new rights and
freedoms. Others viewed these changes as a moral threat to the country.
We'll see why the women's rights issue was so volatile. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Century: America's Time. Stormy Weather (1930-1939).
Drawing on unequaled film and photo archives, and original interviews,
this sweeping series examines events that shaped the U.S. in the 20th
century. In this episode, we look at the aftermath of the Wall Street
crash and the ensuing Great Depression. What happens to the nation when
serious financial limits restrict the American dream? [TV G]
Sunday -- 10/10/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Shotguns. The first specialized gun, the
British upper-class used it to shoot birds and small game for sport. But
through the years, the shotgun took on a variety of roles, used by
hunter and warrior alike. For more than four centuries, the shotgun was
the weapon of choice for those who could afford one! Film director John
Milius is interviewed. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. The O.S.S.: Origins of the American C.I.A.
Charlton Heston narrates the history of the Office of Strategic
Services, the predecessor to the C.I.A. From the recruitment and
training of secret agents to actual undercover missions, O.S.S. agents
played an important role on the "Invisible Battlefield" during World War
Two. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Hitler: The Final Chapter. Reveals the
"true" story of the despot's last days. Answers such questions as how
Hitler died (he took cyanide, he didn't shoot himself), and what
happened to his remains (they were not disposed of until 1970). [TV PG]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. The Sinking of the Lusitania/The Treaty of
Versailles. First, we'll see how the Lusitania sailed into history when
Germany sank her, taking many American lives--a blunder that led to the
U.S. entrance into WWI. Then, we'll see how the blistering conditions
imposed by the Allies on Germany after World War One eventually resulted
in the rise of Nazism and Hitler's desire for revenge. [TV G]
Monday -- 10/11/1999
8:00/5:00 Asteroids! Asteroids have been colliding with earth since
time began. The effect can be enormous--from killing of the dinosaurs to
scarring of the planet's surface. Using computer recreations and
interviews with the world's foremost asteroid authorities, we explore
the long history of these rocks from space and what future threats they
pose. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Empires of Industry. Victory at Sea: Mass-Producing Liberty.
Focusing on a brief but glorious period of American ingenuity, we'll
study shipbuilders' response to the demands of WWII. Combining rare
National Archive footage with photography shot on vintage ships, we'll
see how industrialists transformed the nation's shipyards into mass
production facilities in a matter of months. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Tool Bench: Power Tools. The history of civilization
could easily be measured in terms of our ability to make, use, and
improve tools--an activity that is at least 4 million years old! At the
tip of our toolmaking timeline are power tools. We'll examine today's
power tool industry, which is booming thanks to more powerful, lighter,
and quieter cordless tools. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Clyde Barrow's Death Shirt;
Cromwell's Head; Merry Prankster Bus. Join us on an historical scavenger
hunt as we search down artifacts from around the world. Some of the
objects on our list this week include Clyde Barrow's death shirt, Oliver
Cromwell's head, and the first dinosaur skeleton to be publicly
disclosed. (cc) [TV G]
Tuesday -- 10/12/1999
8:00/5:00 Potions or Poisons? The 1800s saw the heyday of "patent
medicines", elixirs promising to cure nearly anything--if they didn't
kill you! Snake-oil salesmen hawked potent potions with ingredients like
opium, cocaine, or grain alcohol--until the FDA acted in the 1900s.
You'll feel better in the morning after a dose of our tasty medicinal
history. We promise! (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Empires of Industry. Andrew Carnegie and the Age of Steel.
This celebration of American industry's innovation and progress assays
the metal that built modern America--from small early ironworks to
massive steel-producing Pittsburgh. We'll see how Andrew Carnegie made
his millions, the birth of U.S. Steel, and industry survival amidst
intense international competition. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Tool Bench: Hand Tools. Well over 2 million years before
modern man evolved, his primitive ancestors were making tools. The
ability to extend the hand and strengthen the arm is considered one of
the keys to human evolution. Join us as we nail down the history of hand
tools, and look at a new generation of computer-designed, high-tech hand
tools. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. Mr. Lincoln's Butcher: General Ulysses S.
Grant. Lincoln's long search for the right commander of the Union Army
leads to many mistakes before ending with General Ulysses S. Grant, who
gets the right results...no matter what the human toll. [TV G]
Wednesday -- 10/13/1999
8:00/5:00 The Great Train Robbery. In 1963, master thief Bruce Reynolds
and a motley crew of career criminals robbed a British mail train
carrying 2.6 million pounds in cash. Within four months, 11 gang members
were caught, but the clever leader stayed on the lam until '69. Reynolds
shares home movies and anecdotes of the heist, as well as his high life
on the run. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Empires of Industry. War Planes of World War II. Flight was
born in America at the turn of the century. But WWII saw more planes
built in a single year--300,000--than had been built in the previous 40.
Modern shots of restored aircraft, historic footage ranging from factory
floors to dogfights, and interviews with pilots and designers recapture
the aviation industry's finest hour. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 Earth Movers II. Join us for a second look at the big
earth-moving machines used to tackle the most challenging jobs on,
under, and off Earth! We'll ride on specialized behemoth dump trucks,
delve below sea level to view dredging equipment, and leave the planet
altogether to explore earth-moving equipment in space. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Gunboats of Vietnam. An intriguing look
at the armored gunboats and the tiny converted pleasure craft that
prowled the rivers of Southeast Asia. [TV G]
Thursday -- 10/14/1999
8:00/5:00 The First Detective. Life of 19th-century France's
super-sleuth Eugene Francois Vidocq, the world's first private eye. An
ex-convict and master of disguise, he helped start the Paris police's
first detective squad, introducing undercover work and ballistics
testing. Meet the model for fictional heroes of Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur
Conan Doyle, and Victor Hugo. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Empires of Industry. Timber! Ranging across the continent
during the 19th and 20th centuries, their work made building the nation
possible. Pioneering lumberjacks led the way for the timber industry as
businessmen saw that fortunes could be made. Fabulous footage from the
1920s and '30s and modern lumberjack competitions show the spirit of
these timber titans. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Big Dig. The Massachusetts Central Artery/Tunnel
Project, a.k.a. the Big Dig, is the most amazing municipal construction
project in U.S. history. Its objective--to replace Boston's decaying
highway infrastructure with 160 new highway miles, half of which run
underground and underwater. After 14 years construction, its cost--$11
billion! (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Firestorm: The Bombing of Germany. A
thousand bomber raids flown by the U.S. Air Force by day, and an equal
number by Britain's R.A.F. at night--a firestorm that rained down on
German cities, destroying industry and communications, and killing many
citizens. We'll study the secret technology and personal bravery needed
to carry off the raids. [TV G]
Friday -- 10/15/1999
8:00/5:00 Salem Witch Trials. Would it surprise you to learn that not
one person was burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials? The
tragedy was that 19 were hanged and one was "pressed" to death--all on
the accusations of young girls. Join us as we recall those hysterical
days of American colonial history when over 150 people were jailed and
tortured. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sell & Spin: A History of Advertising. In this entertaining
2-hour special, we explore the timeless tale of the selling arts--from
Greek criers hawking exotic wares to talking ads on the Internet. We'll
recall the slogans, jingles, and catch lines, and see how advertisers
convince us to buy, buy, buy! [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Empires of Industry. Brewed in America. From Pilgrim brew
masters to early commercial ventures to today's monolithic corporations,
we'll imbibe American beer's long history; and, taste social experiments
from the past, like the Temperance Movement and Prohibition, to see how
they influence sobriety today. [TV G]
Saturday -- 10/16/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Hollywood Sign; Lewis and Clark's
Supply List; Challenger Crew Cabin. Join our historical scavenger hunt
as we seek unusual artifacts, including: the one and only Hollywood
sign; the photographic hoax known as the "fairy photo"; Lewis and
Clark's supply list; the metal table on which Japan's surrender in WWII
was signed; the first vacuum cleaner; the Celtic bog man; and the
Challenger's crew cabin. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Torrents of Death. A look at infamous floods
in America including the Johnstown Flood of 1889, the San Francis Dam
Flood of 1927, and the Mississippi Flood of 1993. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century: America's Time. Over the Edge (1936-1941). Many
Europeans decide the only way out of their poverty, chaos, and despair
is to embrace fascist dictators as saviors. As bullying grows into
border aggression, anxious Americans watch from across the Atlantic.
Will the U.S. remain neutral, or once again be pulled back to Europe to
fight a war they thought was finished 20 years prior? [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Century: America's Time. Homefront (1941-1945). In this
episode of an in-depth series exploring America's emergence as a world
power, we focus on survivors, interviewing both civilian and combatant
from all sides of the conflagration of World War II. How did the average
citizen find the courage to face the chaos of the first war to claim
more civilians than soldiers? [TV G]
Sunday -- 10/17/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. The Luger. The history of the most
recognizable handgun in the world. In 1900, a German arms company
introduced the "Pistole Parabellum" (Pistol for War). But in the United
States, the sidearm came to be known simply by the name of its
inventor--the Luger. Issued by the German Army in WWI, post-war hit men
favored it with a silencer. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Stalin's Spies. Meet the Kremlin operatives
who spied for a paranoid Stalin against both allies and enemies.
Features exclusive interviews with former NKVD intelligence officers and
other witnesses to the actions of the most ruthless dictator of the 20th
century. Charlton Heston narrates. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Mystery of the U2. On May Day 1960, while
the Soviet Union celebrated its most important holiday, its air defenses
went on full alert. Francis Gary Powers, flying an American U2 spy
plane, was shot out of the skies and parachuted into the arms of
communist authorites. We talk to his son and Khrushchev's son, and offer
a new version of that fateful day. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. The Bay of Pigs/Disaster at Dien Bien Phu.
Using rare archival film, we take a look back at two colossal political
and military miscalculations: the disastrous "Bay of Pigs" invasion and
the Cuban Missile Crisis which brought the world to the brink of nuclear
war, and the French disaster in Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu, which forced
their surrender to the former colony. [TV G]
Monday -- 10/18/1999
8:00/5:00 The True Story of the Untouchables. Chicago, 1928. A ruthless
gang of men is determined to wrest control of the city from Al Capone.
They carry machine guns, rifles, and billy clubs. And we're not talking
about a rival mob family. Meet Treasury Department agent Eliot Ness and
his nine-man team of "untouchables" whose exploits would become
legendary. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Hitler's Generals. Erwin Rommel: The Hero. Nazi propaganda
fashioned a legend out of the exploits of the brilliant commander of the
Afrika Korps--the "Desert Fox"--and to this day, he has admirers even
among foes. As a reward, Hitler promoted him to the rank of field
marshall, the Wehrmacht's youngest. See how this German hero ended up
committing forced suicide. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Forts. Fortification evolved along with man's need to defend
his territory from attack. From hills surrounded by fences to walled
cities to impenetrable castles, these strongholds of the past echo the
history of battles for territorial control. Join us as we see how, as
weaponry grew in sophistication, those walls came tumbling down. (cc)
[TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Hollywood Sign; Lewis and Clark's
Supply List; Challenger Crew Cabin. Join our historical scavenger hunt
as we seek unusual artifacts, including: the one and only Hollywood
sign; the photographic hoax known as the "fairy photo"; Lewis and
Clark's supply list; the metal table on which Japan's surrender in WWII
was signed; the first vacuum cleaner; the Celtic bog man; and the
Challenger's crew cabin. (cc) [TV G]
Tuesday -- 10/19/1999
8:00/5:00 The Odessa File. After WWII, a handful of Germans were tried
for war crimes at Nuremberg--but many seemingly disappeared. We'll study
the shadowy Odessa organization, rumored to have links to the S.S. and
to have ferried high-ranking Nazis out of Germany to new identities and
lives. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Hitler's Generals. Friedrich Paulus: The Defector. As
commander of the Sixth Army, Friedrich Paulus's name is forever linked
to the devastating defeat at Stalingrad. After his troops were encircled
and he futilely requested an order to evacuate, Paulus radioed a cynical
thanks to the entrapped, then surrendered. We examine the decisions that
led to the field marshall's "treason". [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Tanks. See how technology has transformed the tank from a
slow-moving vehicle operating at only four miles an hour during WWI, to
today's 60-ton monsters that move at 45 miles per hour. George C. Scott
hosts. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. The Bloodiest Day: Antietam. After the
most savage day of fighting America has ever seen, 22,000 Union and
Confederate soldiers lay dead upon a Maryland field. Rare photographs
and haunting recreations tell the story of bravery and tragic
miscalculation. [TV G]
Wednesday -- 10/20/1999
8:00/5:00 Dr. Guillotin and His Execution Machine. A revealing look at
the dramatic rise and fall of the guillotine. The beheading machine was
proposed by Paris physician Joseph Ignace Guillotin as a painless means
of execution during the French Revolution, but it quickly became a
symbol of the Reign of Terror. Yet the French did not abolish the
guillotine's use until 1981! (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Hitler's Generals. Ernst Udet: The Devil's General. As the
model for Carl Zuckmayer's famous play "The Devil's General", the fate
of the famed WWI ace lingered on in German postwar memory. Promoted by
Goering from cockpit to desk of Chief Air Inspector General, Udet became
scapegoat for Luftwaffe defeats. See how his wounded feelings led to a
"heroic" death--a covered-up suicide. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Helicopters. From the early "egg beaters" of World War II to
the "flying tanks" of Operation Desert Storm, we'll fly aboard one of
the most agile and potent weapons on the battlefield--the helicopter.
Meet the first pilot to fly a combat rescue mission in WWII and a
U.S.A.F. female aviator; and view classified footage of the Apache in
Iraq. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Dreadnoughts. How did one awesome
battleship spark the 20th century's first arms race? Journey back to
turn-of-the-century England for a look at the H.M.S. Dreadnought and one
admiral's devastating vision. [TV G]
Thursday -- 10/21/1999
8:00/5:00 The Mysteries of King Tut. Of all of Egypt's pharaohs,
Tutankhamun remains the most famous and enigmatic. Despite amazing
discoveries made when his tomb was unearthed, little historical
information exists on him--and much of that is shrouded in debate. What
really killed the boy king? Did the "curse of King Tut" kill three of
his tomb's discoverers? (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Hitler's Generals. Erich von Manstein: The Strategist.
Considered Hitler's most capable strategist, Erich von Manstein's career
personifies the conservative Prussian general with a reserved view of
Nazism, who nevertheless served as a willing tool of the merciless
Reich. When the military resistance tried to win him over, he rebuffed
them saying, "Prussian field marshalls do not mutiny." [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Hitler's Generals. Wilhelm Canaris: The Master Spy. Wilhelm
Canaris, head of counterintelligence for the German armed forces, was a
master of double-dealing. While his spies efficiently prepared the way
for Hitler's offensive war, he secretly strived for the Fuehrer's
elimination. Caught between revolt and adaptation, he was murdered
shortly after the 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. [TV PG]
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Secret Mission: Operation Torch.
After numerous adventures, a small number of American officers managed
to rendezvous with their submarine on the North Africa coast in 1942 and
relay back to Eisenhower information which would save thousands of
British and American lives. [TV G]
Friday -- 10/22/1999
8:00/5:00 Silent Witnesses: The Kitty Genovese Murder. In 1964, Kitty
Genovese is brutally murdered in a New York City neighborhood while 38
neighbors hear her screams. Some watch as the killer stabs her under a
street light, disappears, then returns to mutilate and rape her. They do
nothing to help her. We explore the disturbing questions provoked by her
death and our apathy. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. (Documentary.) February
1929: Al Capone takes on "Bugs" Moran in a battle for Chicago's
underworld. Then: a burst from a tommy gun and only one boss remained.
Rare films and recreations offer the inside dope on organized crime's
greatest mass murder. Narrated by Paul Sorvino. [TV PG]
11:00/8:00 The Big House. Alcatraz. A small island in San Francisco's
icy waters, Alcatraz served as a military prison until 1934 when it
became a federal maximum-security prison. Housing the "worst of the
worst", to "Machine Gun" Kelly and "The Birdman" Robert Stroud it was
home. Join us for the history of the "Rock", including the 1970s'
Native-American occupation. (cc) [TV PG]
Saturday -- 10/23/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Saigon Staircase; Grover Clevland's
Tumor; Lindbergh Kidnap Letter. Join us on an historical scavenger hunt
as we search down artifacts from around the world. Some of the objects
on our list include: the Saigon Staircase from which evacuees stepped to
safety aboard the largest-known helicopter evacuation; Grover
Cleveland's Tumor; and the Lindbergh Baby's Kidnap Letter, among others.
(cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Tornadoes: Nature's Deadly Spirals. A look
at tornadoes from an historical perspective beginning with colonial days
and ending with the 1997 tornado that ravaged Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
>From an onslaught of tornadoes in 1936 to the outbreak in 1953 that
spurred the establishment of the National Severe Storms Laboratory, we
study this furious natural enigma. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century: America's Time. Civilians at War (1936-1945).
The shock of Pearl Harbor ends all isolationist trends in America.
Industry retools to become "the arsenal of democracy", and the war
economy finally ends the Depression. A social revolution begins as six
million women enter the work force; and Southern blacks migrate North
and West to fill new jobs created by a booming economy. [TV G]
11:30/8:30 True Action Adventures. No Surrender! A number of Japanese
soldiers in the Pacific did not heed the news in August 1945 of their
country's surrender. They continued to wage guerrilla war both in the
belief that their country was still at war and for their own survival.
The last on Guam did not surrender until 1960, and one in the
Philippines lasted for a further 10 years. [TV G]
Sunday -- 10/24/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Automatic Pistols. A fixture in the battle
zone, menace on the street, and companion to police, the automatic is
easy to use, reliable, and deadly. A 20th century advancement, we trace
the self-reloading pistol's history from the first awkward model to the
sleek guns of Beretta and Glock to a "Smart Gun" of the future that only
fires from its owner's hand. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Chemical Weapons. Charlton Heston narrates
this look at the deadliest of secret arsenals--chemical and biological
weapons. From WWI's mustard gas artillery shells to U.S. gas stockpiles
of WWII to the recent Iraqi gassing of the Kurds, we lift the veil of
secrecy surrounding chemical warfare. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Unit 731: Nightmare in Manchuria. Join
host Arthur Kent as we uncover one of the darkest secrets of WWII--the
Japanese army's nine-year quest to develop biological weapons. At a base
in Manchuria, the program tested anthrax, plague, and a host of doomsday
weapons by experimenting on humans--some allegedly American P.O.W.s.
What was the U.S. role in the cover up? [TV PG]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. The Bomb Plot to Kill Hitler/Mutiny in the
Trenches. First: A look at one of the biggest blunders of WWII, when a
plot by German opposition failed to kill Hitler in 1944 at the Wolf's
Lair. Then: In 1917, on the Western Front during WWI, the French are
repulsed by the Germans due to flawed tactics and poor preparation,
leading to widescale mutinies in the French army. [TV G]
Monday -- 10/25/1999
8:00/5:00 Exorcising the Devil. Belief in evil spirits spans time and
crosses centuries, and just as old and universal is the cure for
possession. In Catholicism, exorcism dates back to Christ's expulsions
of the devil. The "Roman Ritual" dating from 1614 remained unchanged
until 1999. Witness actual exorcisms, and learn why they are now
increasing. (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Haunted History. New York. From a haunted brownstone in
Greenwich Village to the cursed World War II warship on which the five
Sullivan brothers went down, we'll tour the haunted sites that exist in
New York, a state full of folklore, legends, and perhaps ghosts. (cc)
[TV G]
10:00/7:00 Emergency Room. Emergency room medicine has only been a
recognized specialty since 1989, and it took close to two millennia to
get to this point. We'll examine advances that led to the modern
emergency room--from the Byzantine's establishment of the first
hospitals around 1050 A.D. to today's telemedicine. The prognosis for
its future looks good. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Saigon Staircase; Grover Clevland's
Tumor; Lindbergh Kidnap Letter. Join us on an historical scavenger hunt
as we search down artifacts from around the world. Some of the objects
on our list include: the Saigon Staircase from which evacuees stepped to
safety aboard the largest-known helicopter evacuation; Grover
Cleveland's Tumor; and the Lindbergh Baby's Kidnap Letter, among others.
(cc) [TV G]
Tuesday -- 10/26/1999
8:00/5:00 Witchcraft. Once upon a time that cackling crone on a
broomstick held the exalted position of a healing woman who harnessed
nature's secrets for humanity's good. What happened in the Middle Ages
to transform her into a Christian symbol of evil? We'll study the
psychological and social causes of the European and Salem witch trials.
(cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Haunted History. San Antonio. San Antonio--birthplace of
Texas, home of the Alamo, and some say fertile ground for spawning
ghosts! In 1836, the Alamo heroes returned for one last stand. The
beautiful Sallie White, gunned down in 1876, wanders hotel hallways. The
flirtatious ghost of a actress haunts the Alamo Theatre. Tall Texan
tales? You decide! (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 Household Wonders. Reviews the revolution in home
improvement and glimpses the kitchen of tomorrow. Included: the
development of the stove, sewing machine, refrigerated air, washing
machine, vacuum cleaner, toaster, and mixer. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. Zouaves! The saga of the most flamboyant
troops of the Civil War, who modeled themselves after the fierce tribes
of Algeria. The Zouaves could load their guns running, crawling, or
somersaulting. Scores of Zouaves, with their brillant tactics and
dashing drills, fought for both sides [TV G]
Wednesday -- 10/27/1999
8:00/5:00 Hitler and the Occult. Did Hitler's obsession with astrology,
numerology, ancient runes, and German mythology enable his early brash
moves and ultimately spell the Third Reich's doom? (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Haunted History. Ships at Sea. Prowling the world's oceans
perpetually seeking salvation, they are harbingers of doom for those who
cross their bows. Somewhere between the sea's surface and a watery grave
lies a haunted ship's domain. Whether it's the appearance of the Flying
Dutchman, or the ghost of a a murdered barge captain, it's enough to
make landlubbers shake! (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 Scuba and Deep Sea Diving. In antiquity, a hollow reed
served as an underwater link to oxygen. As in days of old, humans still
need self-contained breathing equipment for a variety of
reasons--food-gathering, commercial, recreational, military, and
scientific. Dive with the best as we test scuba diving's past, and look
to a future of mechanical gills. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Pirate Ships. Sail the high seas on a
swift, agile, and deadly pirate ship as it strikes fear in the hearts of
swabbies everywhere! We'll go onboard these highly maneuverable ships
with their skull and crossbones ensign, and find out why no one really
ever walked the gangplank. [TV G]
Thursday -- 10/28/1999
8:00/5:00 The Evil Eye. A look at the ancient and ubiquitous belief in
the evil eye, a glance believed to cause injury or death to those on
whom it falls. Ancient Greeks and Romans believed in it, and it is found
in Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindi traditions. We'll look at ways
to ward off the evil eye, and see why its power persists through modern
times. (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Haunted History. Washington, D.C. In 1891, the Washington Star
newspaper called the capital "the greatest town for ghosts in the
country." Many think the assertion holds true today. Does Lincoln roam
the White House? Does Ulysses S. Grant visit the Willard Hotel? See why
this city known for skeletons in the closet may claim equal notoriety
for its ghosts. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 Stereos. The ability to transmit sound in stereo transformed
the music of life into a rich symphony of sound. For over 100 years,
enthusiasts and scientists have worked to create the ideal listening
experience. From Thomas Edison's early phonograph to today's digital
revolution, we examine this multi-billion dollar business. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Japan's Last Secret Weapon. For six
months beginning November 1, 1944, the Japanese sent 9,000
explosive-laden balloons across the Pacific to bomb America and Canada.
Nearly 1,000 reached the continent. Had it not been winter, America's
vast forests would have been decimated. We'll look at their construction
and deployment, as well as how the U.S. fought back. [TV G]
Friday -- 10/29/1999
8:00/5:00 The Haunted History of Halloween. On October 31, when
pint-sized ghouls and goblins "trick or treat", they're upholding an
ancient northern European ritual dating back thousands of years. From
the Celtic festival of Samhain to the mumming tradition and the
Christian feast day All Hallows' Eve, we find out why this night is the
scariest of the year! [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Incredible Life & Times of Robert Ripley: Believe It or
Not. A fascinating sketch of American cartoonist Robert Ripley, whose
popular newspaper feature "Believe It or Not!" revealed bizarre facts
and oddities. When an arm injury ended a budding baseball career, he
tapped his main talent, drawing cartoons. We review his vast body of
work, including his "Odditoriums", where curiosities were displayed! [TV
G]
10:30/7:30 The World's Greatest Scams. Magician and psychic debunker
James Randi hosts this look at some of the greatest deceptions of all
time. Features the infamous Vermeer forger and famous media hoaxes. [TV
G]
Saturday -- 10/30/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Jesse James' Body; Iwo Jima Flag; Hugh
Hefner's Pajamas. Join us as we hunt down some of history's most
intriguing artifacts, including: Jesse James' body; Marie Antoinette's
guillotine blade; Anastasia's death chair; Mark Twain's writing bed; the
two flags of Iwo Jima; Hugh Hefner's many pajamas; the Rosenberg's
Jell-O box that helped convict them; and MAD magazine's first issue.
(cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Tsunami: Killer Wave. Since the end of World
War II, tsunami have killed more people in the U.S. than earthquakes.
Mysterious, deadly, and unlike other natural killers, they exhibit no
obvious warning signs. Yet within minutes, the ocean rises to an amazing
height, sending tons of water crashing to shore. We'll revisit the 1946
and 1960 lethal Hawaiian tsunami. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century: America's Time. Best Years (1946-1952). Peace
turns out to be a harder adjustment than anyone thought--for both the
men returning from the horrors of WWII, and the wives and country left
behind. And America had to adjust to its new status as a superpower, the
only nation capable of the rebuilding of Europe and Japan, while also
facing the growing threat of the Soviet Union. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Century: America's Time. Happy Days (1953-1960). Today,
we look back on the '50s as a time of national contentment and unity. It
was far from it--McCarthy ranted, the men in gray flannel suits
conformed, African-American activists pushed at the barricades, and
nuclear apocalypse seemed possible at any moment. Were wealth, suburbia,
Marilyn, and Elvis enough to keep Americans content? [TV G]
Sunday -- 10/31/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Guns of the Bizarre. Duck Feet, Salt
Shakers, Squeezers, Knuckledusters, Fish Hooks, and Harmonicas. Though
the listed items sound innocuous, they exist for one
reason--self-defense. These are the nicknames of some of the unique guns
we handle in this examination of the inventive gunsmiths who created
these strange one-of-a-kind firearms. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Roswell: An Alien Obsession. In 1947, near
Roswell, New Mexico, a sheep rancher wandered out to his field to
investigate a loud explosion he heard the night before--we're still
arguing whether or not he heard the crash of a UFO! We'll study the
national fascination with extraterrestrials and talk to experts as well
as a few self-proclaimed aliens. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. Code Name: Project Orion. In the late
1950s, the U.S. secretly began development of atomic powered rockets.
One of the bolder ideas was to propel a spaceship the size of a 10-story
building carrying people, livestock, and equipment for prolonged trips
to other planets. We uncover the story of this astounding plan and talk
to some of its principal scientists. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Greatest Blunders. The Spruce Goose/The DeLorean
Car. A look at some of history's greatest design blunders. First, we'll
examine the Spruce Goose and the Bristol Brabzon. Hailed as the largest
and quietest boat and airliner in the world, but both creaked into the
air. Then, see how the British government lost millions when it backed
John DeLorean to set up a car factory in Ireland
Monday -- 11/01/1999
8:00/5:00 Amazon Women. Herodotus wrote of a tribe of men-hating women
warriors who cut off their right breast to better aim with bow and arrow.
Amazon comes from Greek, meaning "without breast". Tales of fierce
female fighters dot history. Are they myth from male-dominated societies
on the evil of female rule, or truth, as recent archaeological finds
suggest. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Great Empire: Rome. The Republic of Rome. A sweeping
chronicle of one of history's most dynamic empires. Part 1 features the
city's founding by Romulus and Remus; overthrow of the Etruscan
monarchy; and the republic's formation and ultimate undoing with the
rise of Imperial Rome. Host Joe Mantegna introduces Rome's great
faces--Pompey, Cicero, Caesar, Antony, and Cleopatra. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The History of Sex. The 20th Century. A sensual, extensive
series that looks at what sex has meant to the development of
civilization--and what the development of civilization has meant to sex. From the first latex condom in the 1920s to the birth of the Pill in the
1960s, sexuality evolved at a rapid pace in the 20th century. How will
sex change in the next millennium? [TV 14]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Jesse James' Body; Iwo Jima Flag;
Hugh Hefner's Pajamas. (#110) Join us as we hunt down some of history's
most intriguing artifacts, including: Jesse James' body; Marie
Antoinette's guillotine blade; mob boss Anastasia's death chair; Mark
Twain's writing bed; the real Iwo Jima flag; Hugh Hefner's many pajamas;
the Rosenberg's Jell-O box that helped convict them; and MAD magazine's
first issue. (cc ) [TV G]

Tuesday -- 11/02/1999
8:00/5:00 The Enduring Mystery of StonehengeFor 5,000 years, the
sacred site of Stonehenge has stood on the plain of Salisbury, England,
silent witness to a myriad of mysteries. Who built the prehistoric stone
circle? Druids? Merlin the Magician? Was it an altar for human
sacrifice, or landing pad for UFOs? Experts, anthropologists, and
astronomers assess the mystery. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Great Empire: Rome. Age of EmperorsAfter Caesar's
murder, his great-nephew Augustus was victorious in the civil wars that
followed, becoming the first emperor. Host Joe Mantegna explores this
sensational, scandalous age when palace plots, hostile takeovers, and
imperial family intrigues were humdrum. Features Augustus, Caligula,
Claudius, and Nero, among others. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The History of Sex. From Don Juan to Queen Victoria. This
part of our sexual sweep of history covers the intensely romantic (Don
Juan, Casanova) and the darkly perverse (Marquis de Sade), then moves on
to the 19th century with its quirky views. It is the era of Queen
Victoria, yet mail-order pornography takes off. We also reveal carnal
kinks of the Pilgrims and Puritans. [TV 14]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. The Battle of Chattanooga. The saga of the
sweeping battle that helped establish Ulysses S. Grant as a major
leader. Follows the fight from Lookout Mountain to Orchard Knob to
Missionary Ridge, and demonstrates how Confederate General Braxton Bragg
blundered his way to defeat. [TV G]

Wednesday -- 11/03/1999
8:00/5:00 Family Feud: The Hatfields & McCoys. From the Appalachian
hills arose America's most famous family feud, which purportedly began
in 1878 with the theft of a hog. We sort fact from fiction about this
feud that landed in the U.S. Supreme Court, and finally ended in a legal
hanging after an 1889 trial. Historians and descendants from both
families, now friendly, weigh in. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Great Empire: Rome. Building an Empire. Host Joe Mantegna
visits the vast territories conquered by the imperial army--by the 2nd
century A.D., the empire spanned three continents. The over 4,000 Roman
cities were cultural melting pots where diverse customs and beliefs
blended. Features life in Pompeii; the flamboyant Emperor Hadrian; and
religious revolts in Judea. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The History of Sex. The Middle Ages. This episode in our
steamy history of sex traces the evolution of beliefs and practices from
the fall of the Roman Empire through the Renaissance. We'll also uncover
the conflicting extremes of medieval romance and sex. Scholars offer
humorous carnal tales of lusty knights, bawdy widows, naughty priests,
and chaste maidens. [TV 14]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Ocean Liners. For the most exclusive
travelers, they offered unmatched speed and opulence to rival the
world's richest hotels. Rare footage offers an insider's view of the
great transatlantic liners of the 1920s and '30s. [TV G]

Thursday -- 11/04/1999
8:00/5:00 The Most Ancient Taboo: Cannibalism. From the ancient Greeks
to the American Anasazi, evidence shows that nearly every culture has
had its taste for cannibalism. Or have these tales been fabricated as
propaganda? What is it about cannibalism that both repulses and
fascinates us? Join historians and dig into the past, and meet modern
cannibals, such as Jeffrey Dahmer. (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 The Great Empire: Rome. The Enduring Legacy. The final episode
reveals the birth of Christianity and how this religion the emperors
initially tried to destroy ultimately passed on the Roman Empire's
legacy. Highlights include: the crucifixion of Jesus; religious
persecutions; rise of Constantine, the first emperor to embrace
Christianity; and Justinian, Rome's last emperor. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The History of Sex. The Eastern World. An exploration of sex
in China, Japan, India, and the Arab world that offers an intriguing
perspective on the interrelation of sexuality and spirituality in
eastern culture. Among the topics presented are the ancient Chinese
equivalent of Viagra, Japanese acceptance of prostitutes and
pornographic art, and tips from the Kama Sutra. [TV 14]
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Nazi Plunder. The story of the
secret regiments, special trains, and top secret hiding places the Nazis
set up to loot and conceal millions of dollars worth of paintings,
antiques, and other art work stolen from Jewish victims, as well as from
museums and stately homes across Europe. [TV G]

Friday -- 11/05/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Clyde Barrow's Death Shirt; Cromwell's
Head; Merry Prankster Bus. (#105). Join us on an historical scavenger
hunt as we search down artifacts from around the world. Some of the
objects on our list this week include Clyde Barrow's death shirt, Oliver
Cromwell's head, and the first dinosaur skeleton to be publicly
disclosed. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Men Who Killed Kennedy. The Truth Shall Make You Free...
Startling information reveals a conspiracy and cover-up as the final
episode exposes the official charade that the case is closed on the
assassination. Includes a new look at photographic evidence using the
latest image processing techniques. Also, an exclusive interview with
Lee Harvey Oswald's widow. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The History of Sex. Ancient Civilizations. In this hour, we
study sex in the ancient world--from Mesopotamians, who viewed adultery
as a crime of theft, to Romans, who believed that squatting and sneezing
after sex was reliable birth control. We also look at revealing
practices of Egyptians and Greeks--from the origins of dildos to the use
of crocodile dung as a contraceptive. [TV 14]
11:00/8:00 Sex in the Real West. Called easy women, shady ladies, and
soiled doves, the women who went west to practice the oldest profession
were the first ladies of the American frontier. Arriving ahead of their
"decent" sisters, prostitutes flocked to the boom towns and mining
camps, facing ostracism and abuse as they sought a piece of the American
dream. [TV G]

Saturday -- 11/06/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Alcatraz Escape Heads; Real Winnie the
Pooh; Henry VIII's Love Letters. (#111). See the dummy heads used in an
Alcatraz escape and how Winnie the Pooh caused an international dispute.
Meet Colorado cannibal Alfred Packer and the first surviving U.S.
astronauts, monkeys Able and Baker. Read Benedict Arnold's oath of
allegiance and Henry VIII's love letters to Anne Boleyn. Visit John
Wayne's Alamo film set. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Blackouts. We shed light on two nights, 12
years apart, when New York City plunged into darkness. On November 9,
1965, the East Coast blacked out, and New York remained dark until
morning. Citizens rose to the occasion--the black out became a party!
But when the lights went out on July 13, 1977, the city erupted in
violence and looting. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century: America's Time. Poisoned Dreams (1960-1963)
Using unequaled film and photo archives and stories from participants in
key events, our series exploring the American Century looks at three
tense years at home and abroad. As Soviet-U.S. relations heat up the
globe, emboldened civil rights activists face down die-hards at home.
And assassin fells JFK. Peter Jennings hosts. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Century: America's Time. Unpinned (1964-1968) Protests,
riots, venom, and violence reign as the Vietnam War drags on and on, and
civil rights activists grow more strident. Can Americans ever heal the
deep wounds left by such bitter and prolonged discord? We examine those
years of discontent in our in-depth series on the American Century. [TV PG]

Sunday -- 11/07/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Guns of Mauser. The Mauser bolt-action rifle
is the most important military shoulder arm ever made. Mauser's
bolt-action system, perfected in 1898, was so good, no significant
improvements were ever made to it. We tell the story of German gunmaker
Paul Mauser's search for perfection in weaponry and the company's
odyssey through two world wars. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Secret Weapons of the Third Reich. Rockets,
jets, and missiles became a top priority for spies on both sides during
the Second World War. In this series narrated by Charlton Heston, he
explains how espionage, as well as science and engineering, played a
critical role in the development of secret weapons--and the prevention
of their use! [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. U.S.S. Iowa: A Glimpse of Hell. In 1989,
an explosion ripped through the center gun of Turret Two on the U.S.S.
Iowa, killing 47 crewmembers. The Navy leaked an amazing tale: a
Gunner's Mate had caused the tragedy while committing suicide over a
broken homosexual relationship with a shipmate. We uncover the Navy's
motives behind the wild story and the tragedy's real cause. [TV PG]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. U.S.S. Indianapolis: Tragedy at
Sea/Collision at Sea: The Queen Mary and H.M.S. Curacao. First: When the
U.S. cruiser The Indianapolis, on a secret mission involving delivery of
an atomic bomb, is torpedoed, nobody realizes that the crew is left
struggling in shark-infested waters. Then: The Queen Mary, on her way to
England transporting GIs, uses zigzag movements to avoid submarines, but
cuts an escorting cruiser in two. [TV G]

Monday -- 11/08/1999
8:00/5:00 Getting High: The History of LSD. How did the synthetic form
of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, which occurs naturally in ergot (a rye
and wheat fungus), have such an impact on America in the 1960s? Take a
trip back as we explore LSD's role in the cultural upheavals of the
'60s, and trace its roots back to "kykeon", the drug used in ancient
Greek Eleusinian rituals. (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Escape! Tales of Suspense. Papillon. Join us for tales of
ordinary folk locked in extraordinary struggles as they make desperate
bids for freedom. In this episode, we reveal the story behind the book
and film "Papillon", in which petty thief Henri Charrire, "The
Butterfly", made nine escape attempts from the brutal French penal
colony in Guiana, before succeeding. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Demolition. While a civilization's greatness is reflected in
the achievements of architects and engineers, equally impressive are
spectacular acts of destruction throughout history. The cycle of
construction and destruction reflect the shifting values of any given
era. We'll trace the evolution of planned destruction from ancient to
modern day. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Alcatraz Escape Heads; Real Winnie
the Pooh; Henry VIII's Love Letters. (#111). See the dummy heads used in
an Alcatraz escape, and how Winnie the Pooh caused an international
dispute. Meet Colorado cannibal Alfred Packer, and the first surviving
U.S. astronauts, monkeys Able and Baker. Read Benedict Arnold's oath of
allegiance, and Henry VIII's love letters to Anne Boleyn. Visit John
Wayne's Alamo film set. (cc) [TV G]

Tuesday -- 11/09/1999
8:00/5:00 Bounty Hunters: Relentless Pursuers. They aren't police, yet
they can break down your door and yank you off to jail...if you're a
bail jumper. Meet the elusive agents who track nature's cleverest
animal--man! We trace centuries of legal history supporting bounty
hunters, from medieval tradition to English common law, from slave
catchers to lawmen of the Wild West. (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Escape! Tales of Suspense. No Man's Land. In this episode in a
series about ordinary people making desperate bids for freedom, we
return to the divided Germany of the Cold War. One fateful night, an
East German boy tries to sneak across "no man's land" to see his sister.
When he trips a landmine, a West German border patrol risks
international crisis to save the injured youth. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Dynamite. Join us for an explosive hour as we see why Alfred
Nobel's invention of dynamite took on earth-shattering dimensions as his
product blasted out the natural resources that have built our modern
world. We also examine its impact on construction of the roads, tunnels,
and dams that provide us with energy and transportation. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Movies in Time Special: Hollywood vs History: The Messenger:
The Story of Joan of Arc. Sander Vanocur hosts a comparative look at the
film "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" and the real history of
the 15th-century French peasant girl who led her country to victory over
the English during the Hundred Years War. Guest historians pit history
against Hollywood, and we hear from the director and stars of the film.
[TV G]

Wednesday -- 11/10/1999
8:00/5:00 The Strange Case of Lizzie Borden. "Lizzie Borden took an ax,
and gave her mother 40 whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave
her father 41." Most of us know the grisly rhyme, but not the whole
story. Who was Lizzie Borden? Did she really murder her father and
stepmother on that muggy morning in August 1892? Or does she stand
wrongly accused? (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Escape! Tales of Suspense. A Valley Girl in Kuwait. Michelle
Mateljan took time off from college and went to Kuwait with her
boyfriend seeking easy money in the economically booming country. But
when Saddam Hussein invaded, foreigners risked being taken hostage. In a
life-or-death decision, Michelle made a run for safety in a hair-raising
ride through occupied desert to Saudi Arabia. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Bombs. Bombs...the most feared and powerful weapon in any
nation's arsenal. What began as incendiary devices in the 7th century
has evolved into weapons that can literally blow the human race off the
face of earth! From the use of diseased carcasses flung over castle
walls to Greek Fire to today's smart bombs, we review the evolution of
bombs. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Submarines. Deadly steel sharks that
stalk their prey below the surface, submarines reign supreme in the
undersea world. With a pedigree dating back to 1787, U-boats came of age
in the 20th century and completely revolutionized water warfare. [TV G]

Thursday -- 11/11/1999
8:00/5:00 Save Our History: Dear Home: Letters from World War II. During
WWII, the nation put pen to paper and billions of letters were shipped
from home to the front line and back again. Letters full of the horror,
longing, fear, and hope felt by sailors, airmen, marines, and soldiers.
We open a few of the billions of envelopes, and share these letters,
which are now precious historical documents. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Escape! Tales of Suspense. Breakout from Iran. During the
anti-American inferno after the fall of the Shah of Iran, two employees
of Ross Perot's computer company are trapped. Perot, impatient with slow
government negotiations, recruits a team of commandos led by former
Green Beret Colonel "Bull" Simons to rescue them. We revisit their
amazing escape mission inside Iran. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Fireworks. Since the invention of gunpowder, fireworks have
thrilled audiences around the world. We'll view highlights of fireworks
exhibitions throughout history, and go behind the scenes to explore how
science and art mingle in this unique, ancient craft. The world's
preeminent fireworks families explain how they create their spectacles.
(cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Hitler's Last Hope: The V2 Rocket.
One of Hitler's final goals was to produce a rocket capable of carrying
an atomic weapon weighing five tons. Fortunately, Britain's Royal Air
Force discovered his plan and set about to destroy his dream. [TV G]

Friday -- 11/12/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. JFK's Death Car; Dillinger's Gun.
(#102.) Based on Harvey Rachlan's book "Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones and
Einstein's Brain," our wild romp through history traces lost objects
that changed our world. Get the inside story on the car that carried JFK
to his death; John Dillinger's wooden gun used in his jailbreak; General
Sickles' amputated leg that he saved in a wooden box! (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 What If? In a lively 2-hour investigation into some of the
most fascinating "what ifs" of recent history, well-known historians
ponder what the world would be today if... [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History Undercover. Luftwaffe 1946. What if the Nazis had
held out and the war in Europe lasted until 1946? We'll review the
remarkable aircraft that Germany had in development at war's end, such
as manned supersonic aircraft, manned V-2s, 100-ton intercontinental
bombers, stealth bombers, and a fighter designed to shoot down B-29s at
high altitude. [TV G]

Saturday -- 11/13/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Mme. Hall's D.C. Brothel; First Delta
Blues; Alan Shepard's Moon Club. (#112) In this episode, we'll track
down: the barbed wire that tamed the West; WWII ace Douglas Bader's tin
legs; Mme. Hall's Civil War-era Washington, D.C., brothel; Alexander
Graham Bell's Bullet Detector; the record that changed American music,
Lead Belly's solid aluminum disc; and Alan Shepard's golf club that he
smuggled to the moon. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Killer Quakes. A historic recollection of
the terrible tremblers of this century: San Francisco in 1906 and 1989,
Alaska in 1964, and Los Angeles in 1994. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century: America's Time. Apocalypse Now (1969-1975). The
trauma of the Vietnam War and the crisis of Watergate take their toll on
Americans, leaving them exhausted, embittered, and disgusted with
politics and politicians. Will they ever trust their government again?
Interviews with participants in key events illuminate this series on the
American Century [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Century: America's Time. Starting Over (1976-1981). As
Americans try to chart a new course after Watergate, they find
themselves mired in the aftermath--much of it unforeseen--of the tumult
of previous decades. The civil rights movement leads to emotional
confrontations over affirmative action and busing; women discover they
can't have it all after all. And what about Disco? [TV PG-L]

Sunday -- 11/14/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. The Tommy Gun. Called the "engine of death"
and the "Chicago typewriter", everyone knew it best as the "Tommy Gun".
We'll show how the Thompson Submachine Gun, developed for and rejected
by the police and the military, was the weapon nobody wanted--until it
fell into the wrong hands and became the darling of Prohibition-era
gangsters. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Cold War: The Strangelove Factor. Charlton
Heston narrates this look at Cold War brinkmanship between the U.S. and
the former Soviet Union. Go "toe to toe with the Rooskies" as we examine
the many doomsday scenarios devised by both sides. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 As It Happened: The Story of the Berlin Wall. "Mr Gorbachev,
tear down this wall!" So implored President Ronald Reagan, and in
November 1989 that long-standing barrier between East and West finally
came tumbling down. Join host Arthur Kent, foreign correspondents,
historians, and eyewitnesses from both sides of the Wall as we witness
the building and crumbling of he Berlin Wall. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. Stalin's Purges/The Coup against
Gorbachev. By the mid-1930s, Soviet Armed Forces ranked with the world's
most modern. But thanks to Stalin's purge of senior officers, the Soviet
Union suffered severe embarrassment when it attacked Finland, and
disaster when Germany invaded. Then, a look at the failed 1991 coup
against Mikhail Gorbachev by Communist hard-liners. [TV G]

Monday -- 11/15/1999
8:00/5:00 Killer Submarine. Recounts the deadly patrol of a Soviet S-13
submarine through the Baltic Sea. On January 30, 1945, it sank a German
refugee ship filled with women and children. Of the 10,000 passengers,
only 700 survived. A week later, the sub sank a German hospital
ship--4,000 perished. Survivors of the sub and sunken ships offer
firsthand accounts. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Top Secret Missions of the CIA. Cloak & Dagger Diplomat/Clean
House. In cooperation with the CIA, we open top secret files and reveal
riveting tales of espionage. First, meet diplomat Arkady Shevchenko, who
passed on the Kremlin's intimate secrets--until he defected with the KGB
hot on his trail. Then, an East German housekeeper steals sensitive
files from her boss, a top-level intelligence officer. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Motorcycles. Fast and powerful, they come in a hundred
shapes and a thousand colors. To some, motorcycles symbolize freedom; to
others, they simply stand for trouble! We race back in time and see how,
for over a hundred years, motorcycles have tantalized riders with a
promise of unparalleled speed and endless adventure! (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Mme. Hall's D.C. Brothel; First Delta
Blues; St. Valentine's Day Massacre Wall. (#112). In this episode, we
track down: barbed wire that tamed the West; WWII ace Douglas Bader's
tin legs; Mme. Hall's Civil War-era Washington, D.C., brothel; Alexander
Graham Bell's Bullet Detector; Lead Belly's aluminum record that changed
American music; the St. Valentine's Day Massacre wall; and Alan
Shepard's golf club used on the moon. (cc) [TV G]

Tuesday -- 11/16/1999
8:00/5:00 U.S. Invaded! Few invasions into U.S. territory have been
launched, very few were successful. We'll revisit the more auspicious
enemy actions--from Pancho Villa's raid on a New Mexican town where 18
were killed, the War of 1812, to the 1945 deaths of six Oregonians when
a Japanese bomb-ferrying balloon flew 6,000 miles to reach its victims.
(cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Top Secret Missions of the CIA. Live Wire in Lebanon/Sunken
Treasure. First, we examine the action that cost William Buckley his
life, when he was dispatched to a war-torn Beirut to rebuild CIA
operations. In February 1984, Buckley raced the clock to defend the
embassy and rescue U.S. citizens. Then, the CIA undertakes one of its
most challenging missions--retrieval of a sunken Soviet submarine. [TV
PG]
10:00/7:00 Security Systems. Since civilization's earliest days, man
has sought protection from those who would rob him of riches, knowledge,
and even life. This is the story of the evolving systems designed to
safeguard our most precious possessions, and of the enduring
psychological war between protectors and thieves, each intent on
outfoxing the other. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. The Battle of Fredericksburg. Story of the
bloody battle that killed or wounded over 10,000 men and ended in
devastating defeat for the North. A bumbling military bureaucracy
undermined Union General Ambrose Burnside's strategy, leaving his troops
exposed to decimation by Robert E. Lee's Confederate forces. [TV G]

Wednesday -- 11/17/1999
8:00/5:00 The Best Kept Secret: D-Day. The unmitigated success of the
Allies' "Operation Overlord"--the Normandy Invasion that cracked the
Nazis' Atlantic defense--depended on an elaborate plan to fool the
Germans as to when and where the assault would hit. We'll investigate
deception plan "Bodyguard" which included a million-man army of
inflatable men and equipment! (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Top Secret Missions of the CIA. Puma. In a CIA mission
officially denied for 37 years, Alabama Air National Guard pilot Thomas
Ray trained Cuban exiles for an overthrow attempt against Fidel Castro.
Ray was gunned down while providing air support during the ill-fated Bay
of Pigs invasion. In 1998, his heroism was recognized when the CIA
unveiled his star on their Memorial Wall. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Spy Technology. Espionage has been used for at least the
last 4,000 years. And where there are spies, you find gadgets! We focus
on the last 100 years of cloak and dagger technology--from early
code-breaking computers to satellite reconnaissance--and take a look at
the James Bond-type gadgets of the Cold War. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Frigates. Fast, powerful, and nimble,
the humble Yankee frigate devastated the renowned Royal British Navy
throughout the Revolution. Recreations and computer simulations reveal
why it was the envy of designers the world over. [TV G]

Thursday -- 11/18/1999
8:00/5:00 Forgotten Wars. Reveals exciting and controversial military
campaigns that have all but faded from American history--a showdown with
Britain that began over a pig; a war in Korea fought in 1871, not 1950;
and a U.S. citizen's attempt to seize control of Nicaragua! Covers
little-known invasions in Russia, Central America, and the Caribbean as
well. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Top Secret Missions of the CIA. Bodysnatch/The War That Never
Was. First, CIA officer Duane Clarridge engineers a clandestine
operation with the FBI to "kidnap" international terrorist Fawaz Yunis
from Cyprus and bring him to the U.S. to stand trial. Then, CIA Officer
Bill Lair launches Operation Momentum, a covert mission to arm and train
mountain tribesmen in Laos to battle communist infiltration. [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 Save Our History: The Missouri: A Journey with Stephen
Ambrose. Lewis and Clark wouldn't recognize the Missouri River
today--the tumultuous river used as their "road" West is now docile.
After WWII, the Army Corps of Engineers dammed and channeled it to try
to control flooding--and destroyed many species of wildlife. Join author
Stephen Ambrose and environmentalists in a campaign to save the river.
[TV G]
11:00/8:00 Secrets of World War II. Merrill's Marauders. America's
answer to fighting behind Japanese lines was a crack army unit of highly
trained jungle fighters led by Brigadier General Frank Merrill. See them
take on not only the Japanese in Burma, but also sweltering heat,
insects, disease, and faltering supply lines. [TV G]

Friday -- 11/19/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Jackie Kennedy's Dress; Paul Revere's
Lantern. (#104.) In a magazine-style treasure hunt, we search out
historical objects and the often-murky truth surrounding them. In this
installment, we track: Jackie Kennedy's bloodstained dress; Paul
Revere's lanterns; African man-eating lions; the shared liver of Siamese
twins Chang and Eng; the oldest pair of Levi's; and the earliest war
films. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Big Rigs of Combat. The rousing story of the tank, from its
primitive appearance in WWI to the high-tech world of modern tank
warfare, with emphasis on the tank's Golden Age during WWII. In the
second hour, we'll look at the American soldier's best friend in
WWII--the Jeep. A "Blitz Buggy" could serve as a combat car, snow plow,
or ambulance! [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The "Fighting I": The Story of the U.S.S. Intrepid. Complete
history of one of the Navy's most storied ships. A veteran of some of
WWII's most important battles in the Pacific, the carrier also played
roles in the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War, and recovered two
space capsules. [TV G]

Saturday -- 11/20/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Edison's Electric Killing Machine;
Shakespeare's Will; Elvis' Car. (#107). Join us on an historical
scavenger hunt as we search down artifacts from around the world. Some
of the objects on our list include: Edison's Electric Killing Machine;
Togo the Sled Dog; Shakespeare's Will; Coolidge's Exercise Horse; the
First Video Game; Beethoven's Hearing Aid; and Elvis Presley's Purple
Cadillac. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Texas City Explosion. Examines the worst
industrial disaster in U.S. history, which began on April 16, 1947, in
Texas City on the Galveston Bay. Stevedores loading ammonium nitrate on
a French-owned cargo ship smelled smoke. When volunteer firemen arrived,
the blaze was out of control, and the ship exploded, setting fire to oil
tanks. The total death count--567! [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Century: America's Time. A New World (1981-1989).
President Ronald Reagan terms the Soviet Union the "evil empire", and
arms build-up on both sides heats up the Cold War. But when a new Soviet
leader introduces Glasnost and frees Eastern European states, communist
regimes fall. Capitalism reigns in the greedy decade, with many
Americans agreeing that the pursuit of wealth is a duty. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Century: America's Time. Machine Dreams (The '90s). The
concluding episode in the definitive series on the American Century
examines major events in the 1990s and places them in historical
context--the Gulf War, Internet, Million Man March, Oklahoma City
Bombing. We also look at the today's celebrity craze, and see who has
fascinated us over the years. Peter Jennings hosts. [TV G]

Sunday -- 11/21/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Million Dollar Guns. The treasures of a
select few, each tells a story of human triumph or desperate tragedy,
cast forever in iron, steel, and wood. A few are so prized and historic
that their values have soared to monumental prices. They are the
million-dollar firearms. We'll view Catherine the Great's pistols and
Hitler's gold pocket pistol, among others. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. The Holocaust Secret. Charlton Heston
narrates this examination of the one of the burning issues of WWII: How
did the Nazis hide their atrocities, and what did the Allies know about
the "Final Solution"? Secret documents, messages, and cables shed new
light on one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. The Secret Bunker. At the height of Cold
War paranoia, the U.S. government embarked on a secret duck-and-cover
plan: a network of underground bunkers made to protect top officials
should the Soviets attack. In 1992, a reporter blew the lid off the
doomsday bunker. We venture deep beneath West Virginia's hills to
uncover a luxurious last resort for Congress. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. The U-2 Affair/The Spanish H-Bomb Crash.
First, we review the crisis caused when Gary Powers' reconnaissance spy
plane was shot down on a high altitude mission over the U.S.S.R. Then,
in another blunder from the early 1960s, we review the case of an U.S.
B-52 bomber, which dropped a hydrogen bomb dangerously close to a
Spanish holiday resort. Thankfully, it wasn't armed! [TV G]

Monday -- 11/22/1999
8:00/5:00 History Undercover. Missing Files: The JFK Assassination. Did
an elaborate cover-up conceal evidence about JFK's assassination? Join
us as we reveal new discoveries and footage resulting from a five-year
unprecedented search for truth by a small government agency called the
Assassinations Records Review Board. We also hear from experts who
believe in the official version and conspiracy theorists. [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 The Warren Commission. On September 24, 1964, seven of
America's most respected men, led by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl
Warren, presented their findings on the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy. Established by Lyndon Johnson to close the book on JFK's
murder, the Warren Commission instead ensured its endless debate. How?
Why? We'll find out. [TV PG]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Jackie Kennedy's Blood-Stained Dress;
Paul Revere's Lantern. (#104). In a magazine-style treasure hunt, we
search out historical objects and the often-murky truth surrounding
them. In this installment, we track: Jackie Kennedy's bloodstained
dress; Paul Revere's lanterns; African man-eating lions; the shared
liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng; the oldest pair of Levi's; and the
earliest war films. [TV G]

Tuesday -- 11/23/1999
8:00/5:00 Ancient Inventions, Pt. 1. Is it true that "everything old is
new again"? In a 2-part study of the inventive spirit of mankind, we
look at some amazing ancient discoveries. Part One looks at inventions
relating to fire, the building of the pyramids, and early flight
technology. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Ancient Inventions, Pt. 2. Conclusion of a 2-part look at
ancient inventions and technology. Scholars and experts provide a lively
look back at some wondrous inventions, far advanced for their times. We
examine the development of weapons and tools, and look at man's
perpetual quest for eternal life. (cc) [TV G]
10:00/7:00 The Tool Bench: Power Tools. The history of civilization
could easily be measured in terms of our ability to make, use, and
improve tools--an activity that is at least 4 million years old! At the
tip of our toolmaking timeline are power tools. We'll examine today's
power tool industry, which is booming thanks to more powerful, lighter,
and quieter cordless tools. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Tool Bench: Hand Tools. Well over 2 million years before
modern man evolved, his primitive ancestors were making tools. The
ability to extend the hand and strengthen the arm is considered one of
the keys to human evolution. Join us as we nail down the history of hand
tools, and look at a new generation of computer-designed, high-tech hand
tools. (cc) [TV G]

Wednesday -- 11/24/1999
8:00/5:00 The Inquisition. Its very name conjures up horrific images of
torture, persecution, and corruption of power. We'll unravel the twisted
history of "The Inquisition", a special court established by Pope
Gregory IX in 1231 to root out heresy. We'll also see why, for the first
time ever, the Vatican is conducting its own inquisition into The
Inquisition. (cc) [TV PG]
10:00/7:00 The Atlantic Wall. Join us for an exploration of the Nazi
construction called the Atlantic Wall--3,000 miles of shore
fortifications along occupied European coastline. We'll highlight the
logistics of construction, types of fortifications, weapons, and
obstacles in the wall used by the Germans. We also detail the Allied
D-Day invasion. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 The Great Ships. The Cruisers. Built to protect massive
battleships, these swift and powerful warships boast some of the 20th
century's most innovative naval design. On board a cruiser, we'll
witness its speed and grace, and learn how these descendants of frigates
earned their reputation. [TV G]

Thursday -- 11/25/1999
8:00/5:00 The First Americans. Columbus was convinced they were from
India; others thought them descendents of Atlantis or the Lost Tribes of
Israel. Serious study began with Thomas Jefferson who was fascinated by
tools and mounds found throughout the New World. Join today's
archaeologists searching the Americas for evidence to pinpoint when man
first arrived. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Home for the Holidays: The History of Thanksgiving From the
Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, Lincoln's 1863 declaration naming it a
national holiday, to turkey, Macy's parade, and football, we'll share
the abundant feast of Thanksgiving history--including all the trimmings!
[TV G]
10:00/7:00 American Eats: History on a Bun. Join us for a 2-hour tasty
tour of the fascinating history of food, with a special focus on
home-cooked American treats. Find out if "Scorecard Harry" really
invented the hot dog, the Earl of Sandwich's culinary contribution, and
how an Italian immigrant began the pizza craze. Get out your fork and
knife and relish our fabulous feast! [TV G]

Friday -- 11/26/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Saigon Staircase; Grover Cleveland's
Tumor; Lindbergh Kidnap Letter. (#106). Join us on an historical
scavenger hunt as we search down artifacts from around the world. Some
of the objects on our list include: the Saigon Staircase from which
evacuees stepped to safety aboard the largest-known helicopter
evacuation; Grover Cleveland's Tumor; and the Lindbergh Baby's Kidnap
Letter, among others. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Searchers. Movie. John Wayne stars in one of John Ford's
finest Westerns about an ex-Confederate--wanted by the law and filled
with hatred--in endless pursuit of the Comanches who killed his
brother's family and abducted his niece (Natalie Wood). Jeffrey Hunter
co-stars. (1956) (Historians: Professors John Mack Faragher and Charles
Marland.) [TV PG]
11:30/8:30 The Real West. The Last Comanche. Chronicle of the last
Comanche leader to surrender his tribe to white authorities. Quanah
Parker later became a cattle rancher and court judge. [TV G]

Saturday -- 11/27/1999
8:00/5:00 History's Lost & Found. Al Capone's Cadillac; Imelda Marcos'
Shoes; Lizzie Borden's Ax. (#113). In this episode, we'll track down: Al
Capone's bulletproof Cadillac with gunports in the side windows; Imelda
Marcos' 1200 pair of shoes; the legendary Stone of Scone; the first gas
mask; a Lakota Ghost Dance sacred shirt; Plymouth Rock; and Lizzie
Borden's infamous ax. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 The Wrath of God. Avalanches: White Walls of Death. A look at
the terror of high, frozen places, at sudden deaths and hairbreadth
rescues from avalanches. For the first time on TV, the granddaddy of
them all, the 1910 Wellington Train Disaster is shown. In that tragic
event, an avalanche swept two trains off the side of a pass in the
Cascade Mountains killing 96. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 David L. Wolper: The Man That Makes Things Happen. Producer
and showman David L. Wolper has had a remarkable 50 years in show
business. We present a comprehensive look at Wolper and his programming,
including many award-winning documentaries, "Making of the President",
"Roots", and the opening ceremonies at the 1984 Olympics and Liberty
Weekend. [TV G]
11:30/8:30 The Making of The Crossing. A behind-the-scenes look at the
upcoming World Premiere A&E Original Movie "The Crossing" starring Jeff
Daniels as George Washington. (Premiering in January, 2000 on A&E.) [TV
G]

Sunday -- 11/28/1999
8:00/5:00 Tales of the Gun. Guns of Infamy. Join us for a review of guns
that changed history. We see the firearms used to assassinate Presidents
Kennedy, McKinley, Garfield, and Lincoln. We meet the gun that triggered
WWI when it was used to kill Archduke Ferdinand, and see candidates for
the gun that fired the "shot heard 'round the world" in the American
Revolution. [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Sworn to Secrecy. Sitzkrieg: The Phony War. Charlton Heston
narrates this series featuring significant political and military
machinations of the 20th century. In this episode, we see how the
Blitzkrieg, war of rapid maneuver, gave way to a "phony war"--declared
but not yet fought--that allowed spies, diplomats, and opportunists to
make their moves before the army advanced. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 History Undercover. The Ace: The Story of Johannes Steinhoff.
Arthur Kent looks at the fascinating career of General Johannes
Steinhoff, who restored respectability to Germany's armed forces in the
wake of WWII. Steinhoff downed 176 Allied aircraft as an ace fighter in
Hitler's Luftwaffe, survived horrific burns in a crash, and ultimately
became Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Military Blunders. Hitler's Declaration of War on the
U.S./Death at Stalingrad. A study of two of Hitler's greatest blunders,
which spelled doom for the Third Reich. Even after the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt fought resistance to joining the
war against Germany and Italy--until Hitler declared war on the U.S.
Then, his insistence on taking Stalingrad leads to the loss of an entire
army! [TV G]

Monday -- 11/29/1999
8:00/5:00 Hell's Angels. Are they romantic figures of rebellion, or
traveling, rowdy misfits? Jump on you "hog" and ride along as we reveal
the history of this motorcycle club with a punch! From inception by a
former pilot from the "Hell's Angels" squadron, to the true incident on
which "The Wild One" is based, to today, it's a ride you won't want to
miss. (cc) [TV PG]
9:00/6:00 Top Speed. Land. Put the pedal to the metal and join us for a
racy series exploring man's mad quest to move faster and faster. From
the first Land Speed record (39.25 mph) set in 1898, 1930s races for
"fastest man on earth" title, '50s hot rodders, '60s jet cars, and 1997
breaking of the sound barrier, all the thrills are here in this
galvanizing hour. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 Engineering Disasters II. Throughout history the same
builders and engineers that paved man's path out of the caves and into
the modern world also caused some of mankind's worst disasters. Often a
huge calamity is traced back to a tiny cause, insignificant in itself,
but triggering a domino effect. We'll revisit notable disasters and
search for probable causes. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 History's Lost & Found. Al Capone's Cadillac; Imelda Marcos'
Shoes; Lizzie Borden's Ax. (#113). In this episode, we'll track down: Al
Capone's bulletproof Cadillac with gunports in the side windows; Imelda
Marcos' 1200 pair of shoes; the legendary Stone of Scone; the first gas
mask; a Lakota Ghost Dance sacred shirt; Plymouth Rock; and Lizzie
Borden's infamous ax. (cc) [TV G]

Tuesday -- 11/30/1999
8:00/5:00 Sports: Games of Combat. From the earliest recorded
references of the fighting sports to a modern octagon, where combatants
beat each other to a bloody pulp, we learn why games of combat have
always been and will continue to be a vital part of sports. We'll
compare Western boxing, wrestling, and gladiator sports to more
spiritually-based Eastern martial arts. (cc) [TV G]
9:00/6:00 Top Speed. Air. Air is the ultimate arena in man's quest for
speed. While today space travel is routine, once the "need for speed"
cost lives. Spectacular footage from Kitty Hawk to the Final Frontier
highlights this look at speed demons and their flying machines. We also
interview Chuck Yeager, first to break the sound barrier, and SR-71
Blackbird pilots. [TV G]
10:00/7:00 Engineering Disasters. From the Colossus of Rhodes and
Egypt's pyramids to the Hoover Dam and the Space Shuttle, mankind has
celebrated the work of engineers. But what happens when their
calculations prove wrong? From Hammurabi, who passed the first building
laws, to today's potential disasters that can wipe out a whole city, we
review engineering mistakes. (cc) [TV G]
11:00/8:00 Civil War Journal. Born Killers: The Iron Brigade. The story
of one of the Union's most famous units. Mustered in the Midwest, they
served with enormous distinction while suffering heavy losses